The Settlement/August Uncommon. . . .

It’s been a while since my last yellow tea so I was super excited to try this one!

The ‘one’ I’m referring to is The Settlement from August Uncommon Tea. Not only am I excited to sip on a yellow tea but I’m exciting about a tea from this company because I haven’t tried many of their teas thus far.

The aroma of the leaves is a combo of sweet, wet wood and brunt molasses. Once the leaves have been infused it smells even more like brunt molasses and paired with a roasted peanut aroma as well.

While I was sipping on this tea the first thing I thought of was roasted peanuts and burnt molasses, too. This offers a really unique aroma, flavor, and tea sipping experience. Even tho it’s been a couple of month since my last new-to-me-yellow-tea I have to say this one stands out for several reasons. It doesn’t taste anything like the others I have had and I say that with full excitement and respect because I am always looking for something different.

At the time I wrote this review I noticed that the company not only slashed their prices – they are offering free shipping in the US, too! So if you haven’t checked out this tea offering or this tea company I would HIGHLY suggest it. The Settlement from August Uncommon Tea. It’s yellow tea from Anhui province grown at 1,000 meters above sea level and pretty darn special!


Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:  Yellow

Where to Buy:  August Uncommon

Description.

This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Huo Shan Yellow Tea from Chash Tea

I really LOVE yellow tea and try them whenever I can but they still seem few and fair between so when I saw Huo Shan Yellow Tea from Chash Tea in my mailbox I couldn’t wait to try it!

The leaves of this Huo Shan Yellow Tea from Chash Tea were paler yellow-gray-green in color and somewhat flat. A few lonely leaves had delicate white, fuzzy hairs on them which indicated the freshness, quality, and delicate nature of this tea.

The flavor was gentle, outrageously clean, and not at all bitter. Huo Shan Yellow Tea from Chash Tea is a really terrific yellow tea! I tried to savor it as much as I could because I am sure it will be some time before I have another mouth watering yellow tea. I’m thankful for the time I spent with Huo Shan Yellow Tea from Chash Tea. It was incredibly good while it lasted.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Yellow
Where to Buy: Chash Tea

chash-logo-2014Description

Yellow tea is the rarest and least-known tea. It is little known because export outside China was once punishable by death! It remains rare due to the painstaking process required to create it

A variation of green tea, Yellow tea is created using only the bud from each tea plant. The bud is dried very slowly to remove the vegetal notes associated with green tea

Our Yellow tea hails from Anhui province. It is named Huo Shan, after the imposing mountain peak. Poor yellow tea looks darkened, withered and can taste bitter. This is fresh (you can still see the delicate white hairs on the bud), vibrant and of astonishing quality

Huo Shan Yellow Tea dates from the Ming Dynasty

From 75p per cup

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Golden Dragon Yellow Tea from Teavana

GoldenDragonYellowTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Yellow

Where to Buy: Teavana

Tea Description:

We are proud to offer one of the rarest teas in the world; our limited edition yellow tea direct from China. The name ‘yellow’ tea refers not only to the unique processing and the lovely, bright golden infusion color, but due to its rarity it is also associated with the imperial yellow worn exclusively by emperors for centuries. Unlike any tea you have tasted before, at first sip it evokes the exquisite pleasure of everyday luxuries. Captivating high floral notes mingle with a smooth honeyed body and a subtle creamy, buttery finish. A perfectly balanced tea curated just for you.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

First a brief disclaimer of sorts;

I am NOT a fan of Teavana. I have never purchased a blend from them and likely never will. However, this has absolutely nothing to do with the blends they sell themselves.While the store serves it’s purpose of acting as an introductory loose leaf tea shop, for which I am grateful (as I’m sure they’ve turned many people on to drinking loose leaf tea) I cannot personally support their business model nor will I give money to a company with such consistently reported poor customer service.

Any of their teas that I’ve ever tried has been received as a sample, and not purchased out of my own pockets. That said, I’ve never let my personal views of the company’s business model affect the way I perceive their teas. This has meant occasionally finding a great blend but not pursuing a revisit, which can be disappointing, but is something I can live with. As for this tea, I’m going to review it as if I didn’t know the company from which it was sourced and give my opinion PURELY about the tea itself.

And so carrying on…

Visually, the dry leaf of this blend looked like somewhat tarnished, lightly browned Yin Zhen (Silver Needle tea) but a little more twisty. Steeped up, the liquor is a very flat, dull golden yellow. It’s very beautiful, even if it’s not a more lively looking liquor. Personally, I’ve only had three or four other plain yellow teas and they’ve been prepared in blue teaware, so I can’t really use my personal experiences to say whether this colour is normal for steeped up yellow tea though. The aroma is interesting; it’s soft with a bit of a buttery vegetal smell and some malt and sweeter notes as well.

Drinking this, it was really apparent to me that the nuances of flavor take after traditional Yin Zhen and Green Tea pretty equally; of course that makes sense given that yellow tea is halfway between white and green tea. I could actually tell it was produced in China without reading the description though; China’s green teas tend to have a more distinct smokey and nutty flavor to them while Japanese greens lean more heavily on the marine side of this (seaweed) and the flavors here weren’t an exception to that. On the greener end of the spectrum, I noticed very gentle smokey notes, buttery vegetal notes, a bit of a peppery flavor leaning towards lemon pepper more so than black pepper (or the actual vegetable; bell pepper, etc.), and some less distinct herbaceous notes as well. That lovely peppery quality definitely falls in line with other yellow teas I’ve been lucky enough to sample.

On the whiter side of things; there was a lovely supple sweetness that reminded me of honey or, combined with the weaker floral tones present, honeysuckle. A more vague hay-like flavour was present, and a flavor that kind of crossed over between malt and cream with a soft fruity edge; very similar to some of the Kenyan white teas I’ve gotten to try. I like to describe that flavor as kind of tasting like a Hot Cross Bun/Easter bun, in a way.

This was a super interesting tea, and I loved all the flavors present that bounced off one another; I’ve only gotten to try a few different yellow teas, and this isn’t my least favourite but it’s not my favourite either: so far Camellia Sinensis’ Meng Ding Huang Ya is my favourite. Both this tea and CS’s heavy big price tags; but with the quality difference I’d go with CS’s yellow tea. However, I think this is definitely worth trying if you get the chance because it WAS lovely.

Beverly Hills Breakfast from Compass Teas

Beverly Hills Breakfast from Compass Teas
Beverly Hills Breakfast from Compass Teas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Yellow

Where to Buy: Compass Teas

Tea Description:

An antioxidant-rich Mimosa! Champagne & Orange flavors over a rare Yellow tea. Smooth, elegant & refreshing.

Ingredients:

Yellow Tea – High in antioxidants. Smooth, mellow flavor.
Organic Flavoring

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Beverly Hills Breakfast from Compass Teas is a must try. First of all its a yellow tea, which I adore yellow teas, secondly it is a bright, cheerful cup that is an excellent breakfast treat.

This tea can be purchased by the ounce or in a try me size which is really special because yellow teas are not only a little more rare to come by but usually you won’t find a means to sample them easily.

You can learn more about yellow tea here.

I was really happy to find this tea in my most recent package of tea samples from my SororiTea Sister Jennifer. I love yellow teas and am always eager to try a new one. I do recall having seen this tea offered by Compass before but I sort of spaced it out and never got around to ordering any. Also I will admit, orange flavored teas are not generally my “go to” flavor in teas, yet I am so happy to have had the chance to sample this one. It’s quite delightful!

Its sunny, crisp, citrusy, yet there is this champagne bubble like sensation that reminds me of a mimosa!

I suppose I should not be surprised, after all this is how the tea is described, but I’m really happy with how the blend comes over on the palate. Its light, refined, yet flavorful.

Compass Teas did a really good job on this blend!

Beverly Hills Breakfast Tea from Compass Teas

BevHillsTea Type:
Yellow Tea

Where To Buy:
Compass Teas

Product Description:

An antioxidant-rich Mimosa! Champagne & Orange flavors over a rare Yellow tea. Smooth, elegant & refreshing.

Makes approximately 30+ cups of tea

Ingredients:

Yellow Tea – High in antioxidants. Smooth, mellow flavor.
Organic Flavoring

Tasters Review:

It’s been a while since my last YELLOW Tea Review here at Sororitea Sisters. When I saw that Compass had this one available I was super excited to try this one but wanted to save it for the right moment.

First – LOVE the name! Beverly Hills Breakfast Tea sounds SO Very posh!

The aroma is out-of-this-world!  It’s Slightly peppery aroma meets yellow tea meets Mimosa/Champagne/Orange flavors all working hand-in-hand.

I would have to say I can taste the yellow tea along side the orange – first and foremost.  Then I can taste a bit of spice – a mild pepper – perhaps – almost like a white peppercorn, maybe.  Then…a subtle champagne type flavor on the end. Even with the flavors – it’s incredibly clean. There is a nice amount of ‘juiciness’ to it, too!

This is a very lovely flavored yellow tea from Compass.  I’m so glad I was able to try it and share it with you!