Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

[William]

Chip, you sure are the best!

[BlueMoonNow]

Dear Chip and Edgar and the board. Please note, I'm not saying this in a sarcastic tone.Thank you for doing justice; I deserved to be banned.

I was completely mean, backwards, wrong, deceptive. I am ashamed of myself and how I treated you all and Edgar. Now I've hurt my family with a poor reputation. Please accept my apologies.

-JaceBass

[Balthazar]

Finished of the last 9 grams of the 50 grams I bought of Jing Tea Shop's "Dan Cong Red Tea".

This tea has been a very pleasant surprise. It's one of those teas I could see myself drinking pretty much every day for the rest of my life. And by that I don't mean it's a "daily drinker" (which has always sounded somewhat derogatory to me), and certainly not an office tea (as I don't think I'd be able to truly appreciate it in the hurried circumstances of office work). It's a tea that pretty much delivers all I crave for: it's full bodied, flavorful, aromatic and long-lasting. Unlike "normally" processed dancong, this really doesn't give my stomach any sort of trouble either. I probably ought to buy more of it. Then again, I have so much tea I really ought to finish before I buy more. Choices, choices.

[Devoted135]

Hello old friends! Long time no see...

I'm seriously enjoying some Yingde that I got from Bad Jedi a couple years ago and wanted to share that here. 5g in my Greenwood studios ~75ml gaiwan and Shyrabbit cup whose crackles are developing nicely. Full, smooth, and chocolatey, just what this new mom needs during an afternoon nap. Plus, the liquor is a gorgeous amber, even darker than Balthazar posted above.

*puts finding a flickr replacement at the end of a very long to-do list*

[Thallassa]

Hello new friends!

I am drinking a spring 2014 Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong from Yunnan Sourcing. It is not smoked. I haven't been able to get a ton of complexity in a single cup from this tea (probably because I'm a poor brewer and need more practice), but depending on how I brew it I get very different characteristics.

Right now I am doing semi-gongfu in a glazed xishi pot - 5g per 200 mL. It tastes like a typical black tea. Astringent on the front, with much lingering sweetness. If I let it cool a bit below normal before I drink, the astringency fades, but the sweetness remains.

When I did full-gongfu (5 g per 100 mL) in a gaiwan, I got a very strong parsnip/root vegetable flavor, especially from the early to middle steepings. If I recall correctly, I got about 8 steepings from it. Likewise from the first two steepings of "grandpa style."

The third steeping of grandpa style (I usually only use 2 g per mug, so 3 steepings is all I get!) tasted and had the mouthfeel of hot cocoa (made in water, not milk), almost exactly. It was very interesting. I'm trying to replicate that with the later steepings in my pot now

[Alucard]

Hello new friends!

I am drinking a spring 2014 Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong from Yunnan Sourcing. It is not smoked.

Hi Thallassa. I liked this too and found it does best semi-gong fu or even western style. Since the leaves were small you dont need much. In my opinion the prominent flavor here is dark chocolate.

I currently have the spring 2015 of this tea and it tastes completely different. There is no dark chocolate flavor and reminds me of a sample of ceylon I had a few months....kind of a corn/light caramel flavor. I also tried the 2015 premium AA version of this tea. I liked the spring 2014 the best out of the three.

[jayinhk]

Drinking a teaspoonful of tea granules from Nelliyampathy in Kerala, South India, brewed in a large coffee mug and tempered with demerara sugar. Pleasant, citrusy note, and no astringency.

[ethan]

Back to Himalayan Orange 2014 autumn flush from Nepal.

Last week after 2 months of no tea, this was way too strong for me. Now it is okay, but I will use a little less leaf & time for a while. Enjoying the wide range of flavors. Other teas I have at home are too simple.

[insanitylater]

lapsang souchong in a gaiwan before bed. short 30 second steeps until it expires

[kuánglóng]

I just received a shipment with some samples and am drinking my first Keemun after a long hiatus. Pretty standard stuff price wise but not bad at all. No surprises in the profile but the dark sweet aftertaste lasts and lasts ... Looking forward to order some more Keemuns to get back in touch with it.
On to the second steep ...

[kuánglóng]

Nepal Sakhira CL FF SFTGFOP1

A lovely little, affordable first flush. Fresh and surprisingly complex with notes of dry fruits, grapes, nuts, thyme, a little honey; a wonderfully balanced play of elements. Not too adstringent with a silky mouthfeel and loong bright aftertaste. Very refreshing - I like it a lot.

[PurplePotato]

Vietnamese wild black from Tao of Tea today. Stored for ~3yrs in a tin once containing mint hot chocolate that was unproperly aired out (whoops). Tried today because there is not much left, and I'd like to use the tin, so low expectations.

Opened the tin and it smells like mint chocolate, but fortunately by the time we get to sniffing the brew it smells like black tea. Upon tasting, I immediately notice that the tea is surprisingly thick and rich. It goes down quite smooth, along with some nice huigan. After the second infusion, I notice myself sweating at my third eye, one of the fun ways chaqi can affect me.

The tea reminds me of w2t's Rocket Yiwu, with similar chocolatey profile and mellowness. Guess I got lucky today.

[ethan]

Back to my favorite for the past year, the autumn flush of 2014 Himalayan Orange from Jun Chiyabari. The last 3 weeks I've noticed its changes because I had not drunk it for 2 months. A year ago flavors lingered so long; now, the aftertaste is shorter. It was dynamically flavorful; now it still is but bolder, closer to first-flush characteristics. The wonderful aroma that arises when the hot water hits dry leaves is still fantastic. Fortunately, it is not too astringent for me (as many darjeelings are) & remains a favorite.

Because I like a somewhat subtle cup of tea, I aim for infusions of 2 minutes exactly now, while before longer steeping was not really a bother.

An unimportant change is that dry leaves in the pouche have a wonderful aroma now that is different than the flavors of a prepared cup.

[kuánglóng]

2015 FF Mim FTGFOP1 Dj5 Organic

Pretty expressive in-your-face florals, light, green, refreshing and uplifting, nice dynamics but lacking in the complexity department - no surprises from this invoice - I've had more distinguished leafs from this garden in the past.
If it goes on like this more and more of my €€€ will go to Nepal instead ... oh well.

[Tead Off]

2015 FF Mim FTGFOP1 Dj5 Organic

Pretty expressive in-your-face florals, light, green, refreshing and uplifting, nice dynamics but lacking in the complexity department - no surprises from this invoice - I've had more distinguished leafs from this garden in the past.
If it goes on like this more and more of my €€€ will go to Nepal instead ... oh well.

Mim is one of my all time favorite Darjeeling gardens. It's very hard to find their teas. When they are good, they are at the top of the game.

I also like Nepali teas, but they lack the complexity and fruit/florals of the better Darjeelings.