Ying De Black Tea

Sipdown (251)

Another sample shared by Evol Ving Ness. Thank you! I’m actually drinking it cold because I got distracted and left it sitting but it’s still really lovely. Malty with notes of chocolate and sweet potato. A little twang that nods to astringency and metallic but isnt quite there (probably a reflection of the temperature and not the tea). A solid black tea option. I’ve had better and I’ve certainly had worse.

I picked up this sample a few years ago in my “try all the teas” phase. The leaves are somewhat broken, and there’s just enough for a single gongfu session. I steeped 5 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

In the first steep, I get notes of honey, grapes, malt, flowers, cocoa, and tannens. I don’t know why, but some Chinese blacks make me think of a much better version of your standard English Breakfast. The tea loses the floral and grape notes by the fourth steep, becoming more malty, metallic, and astringent. The honey continues throughout the session, which makes it more enjoyable. Still, the first four or five steeps are the best.

Although this tea isn’t bad, I’m not in a hurry to get more. Compared to other, admittedly more expensive, Guangdong black teas I’ve had, this is just okay. I think I like black teas with distinctive floral, fruity, or chocolate flavours, and this one doesn’t tick enough of those boxes consistently.

This is a fantastic black tea. Nice and rich – a little chocolate – a little honey – really sweet. Fantastic.
Thanks so much Sil for sharing.

This tea is like drinking pure honey….so much honey! There’s a slight cocoa note, but it’s barely there. It reminds me of Nannuoshan’s Tanyang Gongfu black tea, except that one has more of a balance between the cocoa and honey notes. This one is actually a little too sweet for me, but I like that the honey note is not just sweet, but that all the other characteristics of honey are there. I’m not sure how to explain those other characteristics, except to say it tastes exactly like honey. So if you like honey, definitely check this tea out! The leaf is nice and large too, similar to some Taiwanese black teas I’ve had. Pretty nice quality, and I’m looking forward to trying the other two black teas I ordered.

Sample from Tao Tea Leaf this morning. It’s an enjoyable tea, I would say sweet and smooth really describes it. It’s definitely a bit on the lighter side when it comes to body and has a good cocoa flavor. Amazing no bitterness or astringency at all. I steeped this for 3 minutes and it’s still a bit on the light side, overall I think I prefer black teas with a bit more heft. This was tasty but probably won’t be a repurchase for me.

My plan was to try two similar teas together, for comparison purposes, and then I went and steeped this along with TTL’s ZhengHe GongFu from Jin Ping, forgetting that they’re actually really different teas. Oops. :) They’re both still really delicious Chinese blacks, but this one is a lot less chocolatey. Upping the rating on this one, because I think I do actually like them equally.

this was so much better the previous year. 2014 was just not a good year for a number of teas that i loved originally.

Okay,first off, I’m watching this documantary about animals with fake legs. It’s on Netflix. Called “Nature: My bionic Pet”. If you are ever sad or bored, you seriously have to watch it. It’s just so cool and the animals are adorable!
Also, this freakin’ video is amazing, and It just really makes me want a handicapped pig. xD Just watch. Kinda long-but worth it! It’s just adorable!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z-uO5TPQfM
It just really makes me want a pig now…I love their “oinks”!

Now about the tea! Sorry, but it was just important that I posted that video. Totally made my night!
Anyway
This tea is pretty freakin’ good too! I love the bready aroma and taste this one has. There’s a lot of sweetness to it, much like honey. There’s no bitterness whatsoever. A really enjoyable cup. In a super good sale I’d definitely pick up more of this!! Thank you soooo much for the sample, Boychik! :D

Recd this one from the generous Scribbles.

The dry tea smells strongly of bread and dates. Very thick stone fruit scent. Also a slight alcoholic fermented smell, but a pleasant one.

I accidentally oversteeped this one by quite a few minutes becuase I am at work and got distracted. On first sip it is super bitter- I am blaming this on the over steep. But after it cools significantly the bittness mellows a bit.

This is a strong black tea, bold, slightly malty. Strong flavours of bread. Not so much stone fruit or date flavours. It is reminding me of burnt coffee grounds actually.

Reserving the rating for when I make is one properly. I am thinking the strong flavours are a byproduct of the steep time.

My sweetie has a random sore throat that started yesterday. He thinks it must be from pushing himself too hard on the treadmill and sprinting too much. So this morning he asked me to make him a tea with honey to soothe his poor throat. He wanted a black tea, so I was a dear and made him one of my favorites – Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black. He says he really likes it! :)

Anyway, this tea! Scribbles sent me a sample in our swap, she is lucky enough to live near the retail store! These large pouches are too big to fit into my “bag o’ black tea samples” so I actually chose this tea deliberately. The leaves themselves are rather thin and of medium length. They’re very dark brown, almost black in color. Dry scent reminds me a lot of white tea – hay, raw grains, honey. I steeped a teaspoon of leaf for 3 minutes at 200 degrees.

Once brewed, this tea smells just like fresh-baked bread! It’s very rich and buttery, yum. The taste is also quite bready and reminds me of pastries. There’s a raw grain note that makes me think of oats, and just a smattering of honey over the top. I’m picturing some lovely puff pastry concoction with oat streusel and honey glaze! I’m getting a slightly dusty mouthfeel, but it’s not enough to give me any bother.