Ying De No. 9

Thank you Roughage for this Christmas Tea gift sample!

The day after Christmas, I received a package from England with some tea samples and DRUM ROLL….REAL SCOTS SHORTBREAD!!!!! (And this tea)

My eyes rolled back as I swooned over those shortbread cookies, rich and buttery. Roughage told me that he went to his mums in Scotland for New Years and woke up to Bag Pipes being played in the village.

Ah…how perfect. (At least to me!) Of course, I’m picturing Rob Roy standing with a tray of tea at my door…ha ha!

I’ve been loving the Canton Tea Co. tea’s Roughage has sent twice now. Wish we had them available here through a North American Canton Store, because they’re just that good.

Today, when I began to sip this tea…my mind kept getting stuck.
I thought…“Smooth…sweet honey…”
I would stop and begin again. “Smooth, sweet honey and there isn’t maltiness or astringency…it’s mellow.” And I stopped again, resetting my notes.
“No, no…this tea isn’t like that at all. It is but I don’t want to say that, it isn’t a bland tea…I don’t want to use bland words!”

Fruity and floral. Apricot crumble hot from the oven. “Better.”
And honey. Clover honey, drizzled from a spoon into my mouth.
No, hot honey at the bottom of my teacup when I upend the cup and let the liquid slide down like gold. “YES!”

I wanted to drink this tea with a spoon like a dessert.

Suddenly, I knew what the tea tasted like. Honee’s filled candies. The Candies that have real honey inside…oh sooo good. I always loved the milk and honey ones that are creamy like the flavor of this tea.

OK, so I’ve blown the review. I’ve been all over the place from bagpipes in the morning to Honee’s Candy.

Let’s just say that I’d buy this and will look for it. It’s candy store delicious.

Thanks luv

Crikey, have I not logged this before? But the packet is nearly empty! I really like this tea. It has a dark rich flavour but not as chocolatey or malty as the other black teas that I tend to drink. Instead it really is like the company’s description. The caramel and honey flavours are clearly evident. Lovely. This is the sort of tea that I would happily have as my everyday tea, because the balance of flavours suits most occasions. Now if only I could afford it all the time …

Origin: Yingde, Guangdong Province, China; Summer 2012
Varietal: No 9 (big leaf variety cultivated in Yingde area in the late 1950s from Yunnan tea seeds)
Dry Leaf: Black (not dark brown) and gold little twisty threads. Looks like a Yunnan type tea that has the typical malty scent but it doesn’t have that scent. It has a smoked BBQ scent leaning toward Lapsang Souchong. It looks like the black twists have been smoked a bit longer.
Method: Western- 22 oz ceramic classic- shaped oval pot – 194F 1 tsp tea per 8 oz H2O – Brewed 2 cups in the pot for 3 minutes.
Wet Leaf: Young leaves, very tiny and all individual, turned milk chocolate brown now with scents of light smoke. They used the young leaves of this big-leaf varietal!
Liquor: Clear deep amber. Smells sweet. This tea is very intriguing bc it likes to change it’s spots everywhere.
Flavor: Smooth, nice balance of light smoke, sweet malt, dark honey but not too sweet. No bitter or astringency.
Wow! A really delicious flavor-filled tea. This is cupboard-worthy to me. Love this. Wish I had more—only got a sample pack :( and Canton is in London :( :( :(
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7/28/14
Yay! Glad I had a bit left of this sample to try this on Gong Fu style today!!!
Dry leaf is smoky like Lapsang Souchong.
Did an immediate rinse then 10-8-10-20
The wet leaf smells just like toasted marshmallows in my little 6.42 oz gong fu pot.
Liquor is clear orange and has a smoky creamy toasted marshmallow scent.
Flavor at 10" is smoky toasted marshmallow but not super sweet. Like the crunchy part of the marshmallow in a s’more.
8" – more smoky now that the leaves have opened up. Less marshmallow. Wet leaves totally smell like a s’more now with notes of chocolate, smoke, & graham cracker.
10" – Lighter in flavor but still s’mores.
20" – Still clean flavors with no bitter or astringency. Very good.