Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Dian Hong black tea, also known as Yunnan black tea, is one of China’s most famous black teas. This is the highest grade Dian Hong generally available in China – called Golden Tip Dian Hong. It has lots of orange pekoe in the dried tea, and brews into an absolutely great tasting, golden coloured tea, with very rich taste and aroma.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I reviewed this tea a couple of years ago, but I’m revisiting it because it’s a new year and a new harvest! Plus, it’s a chance for me to taste this amazing tea again – how could I resist?
Because mmmmmM! So good!
Rich! Smooth! Delicious.
When I first opened the sample pouch, I could smell notes of sweet molasses. The dry leaf aroma reminds me a bit of freshly baked cookies – like rich molasses spice cookies without the strong notes of spice. I can almost smell the cake-y notes of the cookie in the leaves!
To brew this, I used my Breville One-Touch. The sampler pouch is just the right amount for my Breville, so I poured the contents of the pouch into the basket and added 500ml of water to the jug. I set the parameters for 212°F and 2 1/2 minutes – and the tea came out perfectly!
This is a wonderful, full-flavored tea. It’s nicely round. It’s got a really robust flavor with notes of earth and leather with hints of smoke and spice. And then I pick up on the sweet molasses-y, caramel-y notes with hints of cream. It’s got a really delectable balance between savory and sweet.
A truly remarkable black tea – definitely something I’d recommend to all tea drinkers who are looking for something exceptionally excellent!
Nonpareil Yunnan Dian Hong Chinese Red Black Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
A cup of Nonpareil Yunnan Dian Hong Chinese Red Black Tea will not only attract you by its taste, but also by its appearance: so dark and strong with tight and long tips. This tempting appearance is produced in Yunnan. While if you want to describe its taste, you can use the word elegant. It can serve you a cup of elegant gongfu tea or afternoon tea.
High mountains and proper environment produces good tea. Chinese Red has a price of high value. Its special tea tree and superb making skills make this tea carrying a unique fragrance as rich as perfumes. The top notes make you delighted; the middle notes fresh your mind; the base note of strong floral fragrance make you intoxicated.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ahhh-ma-ZING! This tea is truly remarkable. Nonpareil Yunnan Dian Hong Chinese Red Black Tea from Teavivre is one of those memorable black teas that I believe all tea lovers should try!
The tea brews up dark and has a thick, silky mouthfeel that seems to coat the palate with it’s full-flavored goodness. I taste notes of deep, dark bittersweet chocolate and an undertone of rich, creamy caramel. It has that “baked” quality to it, the kind of taste that evokes thoughts of freshly baked bread.
There are notes of malt and there is very little – as in next to NO – astringency to this tea. In fact, I mention the astringency only because just now I took a sip and really focused on what I was experiencing to see if I could notice any astringency. And when I’m very focused on it, I can detect a slight dry sensation toward the tail. It’s ever-so-slight and those who tend to be astringent-sensitive shouldn’t worry about this tea.
For those of you who remember Dawn from Simple Leaf and miss it (and let’s face it, if you remember the tea, you miss it!) this tea would make a really good substitute for that tea. It reminds me a lot of that tea. It is rich with notes of cocoa, sweet, caramel-y undertones and notes of stone fruit (plum-ish) mid-sip.
A really memorable, delicious tea – and it’s just as flavorful with the second infusion, too!
Fengqing Wild Tree Yesheng Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake 2013 from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
This raw pu-erh cake is grown and produced in Fengqing, Yunnan, which is the origin place of DianHong black tea. This Wild Tree Yesheng Raw Pu-erh Cake is harvest in spring of 2013. Between March to May, after harvesting the fresh leaves, tea workers will process them: fixation, rolling, drying, sifting, and then store the leaves in carton boxes.
As the workers use iron pan for fixation, and roll the tea with their hands, the leaves do not have good looks as machine-made leaves. Yet regarding on quality, this Wild Tree Yesheng Pu-erh Cake is a green food from nature, in the mists and clouds on high mountains. It is a tea worth being in your collection list.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf aroma of this 2013 Fengqing Wild Tree Yesheng Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake from Teavivre is almost non-existent. This surprised me, only because I’m used to Pu-erh having some aroma, but I didn’t smell much of anything when I smelled the dry leaf.
Conversely, the wet leaves have a strong vegetal scent to them that immediately made me think of peas. Granted, peas are not my favorite vegetable (that’s putting it mildly) and because of that, they are not a food that I’m smelling on a regular basis. But when I smelled these wet leaves, green peas is what came to mind.
For those of you who are like me: timid when it comes to Pu-erh tea because of that strong, earthy and sometimes fishy taste and smell, you can rest assured that you won’t experience that with this Pu-erh. This is a very young Pu-erh, and it tastes much more like a green tea to me than it does a Pu-erh.
It has a vegetal taste, but it’s a remarkably smooth vegetal note. It doesn’t have that “crisp” or “lively” sort of vegetative taste that you might experience with a typical green tea. Instead, this has a very mellow vegetative taste. It doesn’t taste grassy. It tastes like mild steamed vegetables: like spinach, perhaps, only milder and sweeter.
There is a buttery note to this too, something I don’t typically experience with a Pu-erh. So, imagine that aforementioned extra mild, sweet spinach, topped with mushrooms that have been lightly sauteed in butter and then topped with thinly sliced almonds … only the almonds are raw. It has that sort of creamy, buttery taste that you might experience with a raw almond.
Later infusions brought out more savory flavors to the vegetal tones. Notes of salt and seaweed were contrasted by some newly emerging fruity notes. The flavor becomes deeper and more complex with each new infusion.
I like in “wild tree” teas like this that I can almost taste the “wild” in them. There is a note to these teas that I don’t often find in the more conventional farm grown teas.
I would recommend this Pu-erh to those new to Pu-erh so that they can experience some “different” Pu-erh teas, as well as fans of green tea. It’s a really unique tea experience … one definitely worth trying.
No. 4 – Dian Hong Congfu Black Tea from Joseph Wesley Black Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Joseph Wesley Black Tea
Tea Description:
At the foot of the Himalayas in southwestern China, the great tea masters of the Yunnan Province have been hand crafting some of the world’s most unique teas for centuries. Yet, not until the 20th century did this region produce the unique Dian Hong Gong Fu (Yunnan Black) tea. Joseph Wesley’s Black Tea No. 4 is a spotlessly clean representation of this newly famous tea. With its crystal clear red liquor, beautiful golden buds, robust and malty taste and exquisite construction, Joseph Wesley’s Black Tea No. 4 is as much a work of art as it is an unforgettable tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Last week when I reviewed Joseph Wesley’s No. 6 – Bai Lin Congfu Black Tea, and loving that tea as much as I did, I found myself wondering how the other two teas that I have from this company would compare because … quite simply I loved that tea. It was easily one of the very best black teas I’ve tried.
And as I sit here and sip this No. 4 – Dian Hong Congfu Black Tea from Joseph Wesley Black Tea, I find myself amazed yet again by this company! Another outstanding black tea from them.
It IS different than I remember the No. 6, though. The leaves look somewhat similar, with their dark, curly leaves and lots of golden tips. These are really beautifully crafted leaves! I love that this company doesn’t just sell tea. They sell GORGEOUS tea. And it isn’t gorgeous because there are lots of “things” added to the tea. There aren’t fruit bits or flowers or herbs or spices – not that there’s anything wrong with those things added to a tea, I quite enjoy teas with all of those things in them – but I also like that this company has chosen to focus on the beauty of the oxidized Camellia Sinensis leaf, because it in itself is quite a thing to behold!
But I digress!
This Dian Hong is slightly different from the previously reviewed Bai Lin. That tea had a slightly more velvety mouthfeel, while I notice a little more astringency to this cup. This tastes and feels more “clean” and brisk, and there is a certain refreshing aspect to that.
There is a pleasant malty tone to this tea, and a very enjoyable bake-y taste to it with sweet notes that are reminiscent to the caramelized crust of a freshly baked loaf of bread. There are also hints of a smoky character in the distance, and I find that slurping the sip will help to elevate these smoky notes.
It’s a bold tea, with a strong, full-bodied flavor. This is the kind of tea that I’d recommend for those mornings when you just can’t seem to shake the sleepies. You know the kind of day I’m talking about, right? When you know you have to get up because there are things that need to be done … but you just want to stay curled up under the covers and sleep? This tea will give you that “get up and go” kind of vigor you need to get your day started.
The sip starts off sweet with hints of malty caramel and a brisk earthy flavor. As the sip progresses, I notice the distant smoky notes and the warm, bake-y flavor that I mentioned earlier. The sip ends with a slight dryness, and the palate feels clean and refreshed … and ready for another sip.
Another beautiful tea from Joseph Wesley! If you like really good black teas, you really should be shopping with this company. Their teas are top notch!
Yun Nan Dian Hong Black Tea – Golden Tip from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Dian Hong black tea, also known as Yunnan black tea, is one of China’s most famous black teas. This is the highest grade Dian Hong generally available in China – called Golden Tip Dian Hong. It has lots of orange pekoe in the dried tea, and brews into an absolutely great tasting, golden coloured tea, with very rich taste and aroma.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I know that for some of you who might read me regularly, it may be kind of boring to read just how excited I get over tea … cup after cup after cup! But, really, I love tea so much, and when I find a good cup (and I do find them quite often!) I want to share that joy! And yes, I really do get this excited over tea!
And it’s easy to get excited over tea when it tastes as good as this tea does.
The dry leaf is absolutely beautiful. The colors of the leaves ranges from bright, golden yellow to a rich brown, and the leaves are curled and twisted. But even more magnificent than their color is the flavor of the tea that they produce!
It is sweet with caramel-y undertones, and there is a hint of smoke to this tea as well. The smoke melds with the caramel in such a way to give it a distinct flavor that is both savory and sweet. I love the contrast! The mouthfeel is very smooth and even has a certain thickness to it (almost velvety!) that enhances the caramel experience even further.
If I were to categorize this tea into a season of the year, the season for this tea would be Autumn. The flavors remind me of autumn, not just the warm, smoky caramel, but, I also notice a warm spice to this tea. Almost like a mild nutmeg with a dash of pepper, just enough to tantalize the taste buds.
And then there is the sweet-potato/yam-like flavor, another flavor of fall! All of these flavors accent each other quite nicely – a delicious autumnal medley of tastes in one teacup. Truly a memorable cup of tea!