Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

[spot52]

My first experience with this tea has been lackluster at best. It reminded me of Twinings Ceylon. Which is not a bad thing, but it is also not an exciting thing either. Maybe after a few cups I will see things differently.

[TokyoB]

spot52 - There are several teas that are sold as Sun-Moon Lake Black. Which one did you get? Taiwan cultivar #18 is the one that has the wintergreen flavor. The one sold by Essence of Tea is an Assam and doesn't have the wintergreen flavor of #18. It is good for a basic black but not that complex.

[Tead Off]

My first experience with this tea has been lackluster at best. It reminded me of Twinings Ceylon. Which is not a bad thing, but it is also not an exciting thing either. Maybe after a few cups I will see things differently.

The one from Essence of Tea I find to be excellent. A lot depends on how you brew it. I find this tea comes alive in clay teapot rather than porcelain. Being an Assam, it doesn't have that fruitiness Darjeelings are not for but its body is thicker, sweeter, smoother with lovely malty notes. Huge leaves and purported to be organically grown. I would buy this tea again.

[spot52]

My first experience with this tea has been lackluster at best. It reminded me of Twinings Ceylon. Which is not a bad thing, but it is also not an exciting thing either. Maybe after a few cups I will see things differently.

The one from Essence of Tea I find to be excellent. A lot depends on how you brew it. I find this tea comes alive in clay teapot rather than porcelain. Being an Assam, it doesn't have that fruitiness Darjeelings are not for but its body is thicker, sweeter, smoother with lovely malty notes. Huge leaves and purported to be organically grown. I would buy this tea again.

And what were your brewing parameters?

[teaisme]

My first experience with this tea has been lackluster

where did you get yours from?

[spot52]

My first experience with this tea has been lackluster

where did you get yours from?

It was a gift. I do not know where it came from. But I do not smell the wintergreen thing, so I assume it is the other one.

[Tead Off]

My first experience with this tea has been lackluster at best. It reminded me of Twinings Ceylon. Which is not a bad thing, but it is also not an exciting thing either. Maybe after a few cups I will see things differently.

The one from Essence of Tea I find to be excellent. A lot depends on how you brew it. I find this tea comes alive in clay teapot rather than porcelain. Being an Assam, it doesn't have that fruitiness Darjeelings are not for but its body is thicker, sweeter, smoother with lovely malty notes. Huge leaves and purported to be organically grown. I would buy this tea again.

And what were your brewing parameters?

I don't measure the amount of tea. I eyeball the amount in a bamboo scoop and used maybe 2-3g into 160ml clay pot for about 1 minute. Off the boil, btw. Can be brewed a few times. Lovely tea.

[brandon]

I am going to confess that I don't have the temerity to read all 7 pages about this.

But I find the Competition Grade #18 from Red Blossom quite tasty.

Has anyone had #16? I've heard it is much harder to come by.

[TokyoB]

I am going to confess that I don't have the temerity to read all 7 pages about this.

But I find the Competition Grade #18 from Red Blossom quite tasty.

Has anyone had #16? I've heard it is much harder to come by.

I have not had #16. I had #20 from IShopO - not that interesting.

[teaisme]

I had #20 from IShopO - not that interesting.

Yeah there #20 is not representative of what a good #20 would taste like.

[TokyoB]

I had #20 from IShopO - not that interesting.

Yeah there #20 is not representative of what a good #20 would taste like.

Churng,
Who sells a good #20?

[teaisme]

The sun moon lake blacks that I get are sent by a family member who lives in puli or bought locally when I go visit over there.
I haven't tried any other online vendors yet besides the sample from ishopo.

If you would like I could go dig around for the tins, which have contact info so you could try and get in touch with them yourself?
Also a pretty big company over there called 'hugo assam tea farm' sells pretty good stuff at very decent prices roughly $300 NT for 50-75g Tin. They have a wide range of assam taiwan blacks. Maybe you might find #16 too.

I bet if you contacted them you could arrange some kind of shipment.

[nickE]

Just finished trying EoT's Sun Moon Lake black. Loving it so far.

I'm a sucker for nice leaves, these are gorgeous; long, twisted, most are fully intact. The dry leaves smell much like an Assam.

The tea itself tastes great. The malt is pretty in-your-face but the other flavors are very subtle. Very robust taste, with caramel and a sweet huigan in which I picked up some mint.

It's really full in the mouth, tastes like a cross between an Assam and a Yunnan Hongcha to me, not that I know what I'm talking about.

Gongfu'd I got about 9-10 infusions. It's not rough on the wallet either, $8/50g.

[teaisme]

damn the tsa

they didn't mess with any of my other teas except for this type
3 canisters were opened and the seals were pealed off.
One bag of 150g was crushed decently on one side....... I hate you tsa

To clarify/restate some things I have discovered...
black tea cultivars present around the area of sun moon lake (that I know of)
8,16,18,20

#8 (assam) and #18 (ruby, or red jade) can taste very similar depending on who is doing the processing

Not all tea grown in the region is organic (most is actually not, expect to pay almost twice as much for certified organic versions if bought locally)

[NOESIS]

3g of tea (from EoT) in 90ml porcelain gaiwan. 1.5 min initial infusion using 200-ish F spring water. 2.5 min second and 4 min third steeps. A very smooth Assam black tea without any trace of harshness.