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Dec 15th, '16, 21:07
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by jayinhk » Dec 15th, '16, 21:07

ethan wrote:Dian Hong from Tea-Village, Pattaya, Thailand: I opened a 75-gram pouch of this because of John B.'s recent post on some highly oxidized oolong. He said that as far as taste went, the tea that he was drinking could have been leaves from assamica or sinensis. I remembered thinking about the dian hong that way.

Anyway, the gold, soft leaves produce a sweet & fairly complex drink that I believe I was correct in praising months ago. It does have the maltiness of assam black but offers a lot more. I remember getting similar tea from Yunnan Sourcing a few years back & being thrilled. Then I did not know other black tea could be better.

The black TGY from Taiwan (which I have been drinking almost everyday lately) outshines the dian hong, especially when drinking a lot. Although not very complex, nor a tea that changes much from infusion to infusion, the black TGY is one for large quantity & pleasure. That is fortunate today because the wind is blowing hard & the temperature is below freezing; so the old building I stay in has a very cold floor & drafts. After 3 good rounds of the dian hong, I'll return to the black TGY for pleasure & warmth.
A blend of the two might be interesting!

Dec 25th, '16, 04:48
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Dec 25th, '16, 04:48

Drinking 3 infusions of Ruby 18 teabag stacked together in my water bottle. Seems to be the best use of these teabags. Not quite as good as loose-leaf nor the organic Ruby teabag but tasty economical drinking.

Jan 7th, '17, 17:22
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by onjinone » Jan 7th, '17, 17:22

A few different lapsang souchongs. I have a lot of fun comparing the smoked and unsmoked versions.

Jan 9th, '17, 19:31
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Jan 9th, '17, 19:31

Enjoying 2nd small cup of Himalayan Orange (HOR) from Jun Chiyabari, Nepal. Was having problems enjoying this tea for several months, after liking it daily for 2 years or so. Maybe because I gave up coffee a year ago; so, 2 big cups of this a day was too strong & too much of it. After a break back to liking it, but not daily & not so many ounces.

Feb 10th, '17, 19:21
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Feb 10th, '17, 19:21

ethan wrote:Enjoying 2nd small cup of Himalayan Orange (HOR) from Jun Chiyabari, Nepal. Was having problems enjoying this tea for several months, after liking it daily for 2 years or so. .
Traveling in Thailand for > a week, most days have not drunk tea. Found a small pouch of the HOR hidden in my luggage. I think I put it there in October last year. Now in a Bangkok hotel that has an electric kettle in the room & 2 ceramic cups, I am drinking the HOR prepared w/ Minere mineral water off the boil about a minute, I guess about 95C when beginning the 30 seconds of brewing in one of the cups. Result delicious & aroma in room of the first steeping is great. Leaves survived roughness of travel in buses, minivan, taxi, etc. better than I do.

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Feb 16th, '17, 10:10
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by kuánglóng » Feb 16th, '17, 10:10

2016 FF Singell DJ4

I've been drinking more sheng than anything else lately, haven't touched any oolong in months and the rest of my 80+ 2015 and 2016 Himalayan teas is doing just fine. Some of the sharper FF overtones (catechins) have transformed into sweet, mainly fruity mid tones and I really enjoy the results. One of my favorites, the Singell #4 (I have #2 and 5 as well) has turned into one the fruitiest (apricot, mango) and sweetest of the 2016 first flushes and really shines when gongfued in a dedicated 100ml porcelain pot.

Next please ...

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Feb 20th, '17, 16:01
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by kuánglóng » Feb 20th, '17, 16:01

2016 FF Badamtam Dj3 (organic)

This tea has gone through some changes in the last 10+ months, it still has a lot of the higher notes but additional fruity flavors that weren't there when I got it. The colour of the soup hasn't changed that much, it's pretty thick for a FF Dj, brisk, expressive and with excellent dynamics, changing between almost metallic flowery notes (lilies) and fruit (peach, strawberry) in the mouth - just a lovely experience.

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Feb 21st, '17, 15:27
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by debunix » Feb 21st, '17, 15:27

That really sounds terrific. Makes me want to go through the black tea offerings this afternoon.

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Feb 23rd, '17, 16:10
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by cwj » Feb 23rd, '17, 16:10

Just brewed up some Bailin Gong Fu from Music City Tea. 4g leaf in a 100ml gaiwan. I usually get 5 steeps with this setup and this particular tea.
It's snowing outside, and what is better on a cold winter's day than some good black tea? :)

Feb 23rd, '17, 17:04
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by onjinone » Feb 23rd, '17, 17:04

cwj wrote: Just brewed up some Bailin Gong Fu from Music City Tea. 4g leaf in a 100ml gaiwan. I usually get 5 steeps with this setup and this particular tea.
It's snowing outside, and what is better on a cold winter's day than some good black tea? :)
Very few things in this world are better than hot tea on a cold winter day :lol:

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Feb 23rd, '17, 18:40
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by cwj » Feb 23rd, '17, 18:40

onjinone wrote:
cwj wrote: Just brewed up some Bailin Gong Fu from Music City Tea. 4g leaf in a 100ml gaiwan. I usually get 5 steeps with this setup and this particular tea.
It's snowing outside, and what is better on a cold winter's day than some good black tea? :)
Very few things in this world are better than hot tea on a cold winter day :lol:
Very true indeed! :D I'm sitting by the window watching the snow and sipping my hot tea, which is currently Black Fairy from Music City.
We've had a pretty mild winter out here and I started to actually miss the snow...which I never thought I'd say after last winter (120 inches of snow total last year, and I got stranded at Denver airport during one of the many blizzards).
But as of right now, all is right with the world :)

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Feb 25th, '17, 19:04
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by cwj » Feb 25th, '17, 19:04

Watching the documentary-reenactment series "Air Disasters" :shock: (I'm a bit of an aviation enthusiast)........ and just about to brew up 4g of very cheap, but massive sized and beautiful, Yunnan Golden Monkey leaves (from Upton Imports) in a 300ml pot.
Steep time shall be ~1:30 min. and second steep will be around 2:00 min.

After that will be a little dinner. Even though I have a bad cold and am not very hungry, it would probably be best if I actually eat something today. :)

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Feb 28th, '17, 21:40
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by Teasenz » Feb 28th, '17, 21:40

Currently drinking a 'Sun Dried Black Tea' or known as 'Shai Hong' in China. The processing is mainly that of black tea, but the oxidation is stopped by sun drying which is similar to that of a pu erh.

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Mar 1st, '17, 14:20
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Re: RE: Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by joelbct » Mar 1st, '17, 14:20

debunix wrote:Enjoyed a marvelous session with 'Silver Pot Hawaii Volcano Black Tea, floral and fruity and utterly without bitterness--a sample my Tokyo-based friend brought me from a tea event that he attended before he came to visit last month.

It's as amazing as the fantastic Hawaiian grown oolong I've gotten from Hilo Coffee Mill--a small quantity of large, curly & intact leaf goes a very long way.
Interesting! Both the Japanese and Hawaiian blacks I tried ~8 years ago were not drinkable and mostly a novelty, perhaps they have made some progress!

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Mar 3rd, '17, 17:23
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Re: Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

by cwj » Mar 3rd, '17, 17:23

Just starting a session with Joseph Wesley Bai Lin. This is my first tea from this vendor (a friend sent me a sample). I'm curious how many infusions I'll get compared to other Bai Lins I've had.
4g leaf in 100ml gaiwan.

Happy Friday everyone :)

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