Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Mandala Tea
Tea Description:
The highest grade spring buds turned into a black tea. Amazingly smooth and slightly sweet.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! This is really GOOD!
I steeped this a little differently than I normally would steep a black tea. Usually, when I steep a black tea, I use my Breville One-Touch, but based on the amount of tea that I had, I decided to steep it in my gaiwan using short steeps. And I’m really blown away with the results.
Even after steeping for just 1 minute in my gaiwan, I have a deliciously full-bodied black tea that is rich and robust. It is incredibly smooth with notes of malt and cocoa. There is a sweet undertone to this, but, it is not so sweet that it overwhelms the nuances of this tea. I also taste a fruit note in the background that has both sweet and sour tones to it. Such a remarkably complex tea!
What I’m loving most of all about this particular tea is the creaminess it offers. It isn’t a milky-creamy kind of taste and texture you might experience with a Milk Oolong, for example, but, it is more like a rich, dark chocolate kind of creamy. It does not saturate the palate, though, because there is a clean feeling from the light astringency at the tail to keep the palate fresh and invigorated … and ready for the next sip!
Do yourself a favor, and try this tea … and be sure to brew it in your gaiwan! Don’t get me wrong, I still am completely in LOVE with my Breville, but for bud teas like this one, I highly recommend getting out the gaiwan. After your first sip, you’ll thank me!
Wild Fresh Buds – Puerh from In Nature Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: In Nature Teas
Product Description:
Wild Fresh Buds – Puerh, hand picked in the high mountains of Yunnan.
This naturally grown tea is a delicacy which is produced and delivered by Mother Nature without any human interference. It is the purest form of tea one can drink. The sweet taste and aroma are a feast and its endless health properties makes it a very special treat for the body, mind and spirit.
Taster’s Review:
This is really unexpected. Unexpectedly delightful!
The first thing I notice is the aroma – or should I say lack of aroma? Normally when I open a package of Pu-erh the surrounding air is immediately filled with that distinctive earthy quality. That didn’t happen this time. Instead, I was greeted with a very soft, vegetative scent that sort of reminded me of the salad bar when I visit Sweet Tomatoes.
Then I notice the leaves. They look like dry, white leaf buds. Very young leaf buds. Think of the earliest days of spring, when the tiniest of leaf buds begin forming on the trees. Yes, that is what they look like. Tiny, white, and covered with fluffy fuzz.
The flavor these soft, delicate leaf buds produce is amazing. This … THIS? … is Pu-erh? It tastes like no other Pu-erh I’ve ever tasted. It tastes light and crisp. Clean. Slightly vegetative. I wouldn’t describe it as earthy, at least, not in the same context as I would describe other Pu-erh teas that I’ve tasted. There are some earthy tones to this cup but it is more like a vegetal earthiness.
As I continue to sip, the earthy flavors develop slightly, but they never become overwhelming. What I taste mostly from this tea, though, is sweetness. The cool sweetness you might expect after biting into a crisp piece of celery.
One of the most surprising and delicious Pu-erh teas I’ve yet to taste! I like this very much.
Heirloom Yunnan Buds from Upton Tea Imports
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yellow
Where to Buy: Upton Tea Imports (although this tea is no longer available)
Product Description:
Produced in the Yunnan district from heirloom tea bushes, this selection has a pedigree as unique as its character. The flavor is ethereal, with delicate, sweet notes that some have likened to apricot and apple. The finish is mellow and sweet. Supplies are limited.
Taster’s Review:
Ah! How I love yellow tea. My absolute favorite leaf type. It is so gentle, sweet, and soothing. Yes, I would have to agree with the description, this is indeed an ethereal tea experience.
I actually ordered this tea a year ago (Upton Tea Imports includes the date that the tea is packaged for an order on their packaging – including their sample packages! It is a very nice feature, one I wish more tea companies would begin to utilize). I didn’t realize how long ago it had been since I placed the order, and I am amazed at just how flavorful the tea is now, a year later.
The aroma is sweet and fruit-like, reminding me a bit of what my olfactory nerves would experience if I were walking through an apple orchard in bloom on a breezy day. The fragrance translates into the flavor, as I can taste hints of apple in the flavor.
The flavor is very delicate, perhaps even more delicate than a typical yellow tea might be, reminding me more of a silver needle, but with a complexity that I’ve yet to find in a white tea. It has a light sweetness to it that reminds me of honeysuckle. There is even an underlying tone of creaminess to this tea that is very indulgent, reminiscent of the finest milk Oolong. The mouthfeel is velvet-y soft.
Such a remarkable, beautiful yellow tea. I do hope that Upton Tea Imports brings this one back the next time it is harvested!
Huo Shan China Yellow Buds from Upton Tea Imports
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yellow
Where to Buy: Upton Tea Imports
Product Description:
The attractive leaves consist of tender buds and fine leaf sets. The cup is full-flavored, with a delightfully refreshing character. The aroma has a light, peppery note, which translates to a wonderful mouth feel. This was the best yellow tea we cupped in 2009, and it is highly recommended.
Taster’s Review:
I adore yellow tea. It is probably my favorite type of tea, but it is something that I don’t indulge in very often. It is more rare than other types of tea, and due to that rarity it’s a bit more expensive.
But it is not really the expense of the yellow tea that prohibits me from indulging in the yellow tea very often. It is because I am of the belief that if I were to enjoy it on a daily basis, yellow tea would lose some of it’s “special-ness.” Therefore, I have chosen to make yellow tea a bit of a ceremony for me – I even purchased a Yixing clay mug just for my yellow teas!
This Huo Shan is a remarkable yellow tea. It has a sweet, complex flavor. Notes of flower can be experienced in the aroma and in the taste. There is also a light, somewhat sharp spice note that approaches at about mid-sip that adds to the intrigue of the cup.
Nutty notes are introduced throughout the sip. A stronger floral note comes through in the finish that is reminiscent of honeysuckle. That honeysuckle taste lingers through to the aftertaste.
A truly delicious yellow tea – a very special tea, indeed!