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

[kuánglóng]

Vietnam 'Wild Boar' (what-cha)

Pretty strong and expressive, with predominant notes of white almonds, malt and aged orange peel. There's some healthy adstringency and those orangey notes carry on into the long aftertaste - delicious stuff.

[joelbct]

"Imperial" Gold Needle Autumn 2016 from YS. Nearing end of this little sampling binge, still have 10 or so to go. This is an excellent, archetypal Dian Hong and pretty much exactly what I think of when I think "Yunnan Gold." Leathery, peppery, malty, sweet, smooth. Perhaps I've had a "better" Golden Yunnan in the 13 or so years I've enjoyed it, but probably not by much.

Funny, I ordered a bunch of this or whatever was their main "Yunnan Gold" tea from them in 2007, a decade ago, when they were just on ebay, and I didn't get the best batch. Was my first time ordering direct from China. This, though, is what I was seeking at the time.

The problem with YS is, well, I ordered 16 teas from them, 25g and 50g samples. And now I have a list of 5 I want to reorder in bulk (black/red and green), and the prices are so good, but Spring is here, and there are probably 20 more teas I would want to try from them. And I also really enjoyed about half of the Oolongs I ordered from their sister site, TS. And I have now ~2kg of tea on hand already.

Oh well. At least I am not into Puerh.

[Teasenz]

Drinking a 'Shai Hong' right now, which is known as a 'sun dried black tea'. In fact it's a tea between black and pu erh. Most of the processing steps are based on black tea, but to stop the oxidation, it's sun dried like a pu erh. This makes it the only black tea that can be stored long-term for riping. It's now 2 years old, and pretty tasty. I've written a blog post about shai hong it if you're interested:
https://www.teasenz.com/chinese-tea/sun ... k-tea.html

[FinestTippy]

As I write this, I'm sipping on a cup of Dikom Estate Assam TGFOP1 from Upton. Made with water just off the boil, 12 ounces, exactly 5g tea, steeped for 4 minutes, milk added. What's remarkable is how little flavor it has. It doesn't taste like diluted tea, rather it tastes like practically nothing at all.

[kuánglóng]

Diang Hong First Grade Dongzhai (certified organic)

Gongfued 3.3g in a 90ml bone china pot. Beautiful balance, dominant flowery notes, a bit of dark honey, spices and cocoa in the background, some healthy good bitterness, surprisingly thick texture and the aftertaste lingers for a good while - simply delicious.

[FinestTippy]

Currently drinking Old Tree Yunnan Red from Song Tea. 5g tea, 150ml water just off the boil, steeped for 1 minute. Feels great in the mouth. I taste a little pipe tobacco, maybe something leathery.

[mael]

In spring 2016 I went to the Palais des Thés, a french tea brands, they were presenting their selection of first flush Darjeeling, and out of 6-8 différents gardens Turzum estate caught my attention, the scent was more powerful and finest. I enjoyed this tea and ran out of it pretty fast.

A few weeks ago I went back to the store, there was no more Turzum first flush but instead the vendor sold me Turzum summer harvest, and it has the same qualities of the first flush, powerful, complex and fresh.

I see on their website they also got autumn harvest of the same garden, I should give it a try to complete this 2016 turzum experience !

[kuánglóng]

In spring 2016 I went to the Palais des Thés, a french tea brands, they were presenting their selection of first flush Darjeeling, and out of 6-8 différents gardens Turzum estate caught my attention, the scent was more powerful and finest. I enjoyed this tea and ran out of it pretty fast.

A few weeks ago I went back to the store, there was no more Turzum first flush but instead the vendor sold me Turzum summer harvest, and it has the same qualities of the first flush, powerful, complex and fresh.

I see on their website they also got autumn harvest of the same garden, I should give it a try to complete this 2016 turzum experience !

I've sampled two different Turzum (Sungma) 1st flush DJs last year and their invoice #5 has been one of my favorite Himalayan teas from 2016 as well. I still have more than 50g left and look forward to enjoying them to the max.

[primetealeaf]

A fantastic Assamica No.8... the fruity aroma of blackberry (reminds me of a packet of blackberry candy from my youth and a bold deep flavour. Put's a smile on the face with each session...

[Priank]

Get 15% off on a wide range of Goodricke Tea by using the Promo Code : G067
Log on to goodricketea.com for a healthy tomorrow.

[mael]

Also got to give a thumb up to 2015 Fujian Zheng Shan Tang Yuan Gui Xiao Zhong Premium Grade (long name). It is another tea I had in 2016 and I enjoyed it a lot. Got it from chawang shop.

First I really like the look of the dry leaves, tiny little leave, look beautiful. And the brew is powerful and rich taste a real pleasure to drink. More delicate than a Darjeeling.

I drink black teas in a mug, something like a big teaspoon in a teaball and infusion time depending of the tea.

I've sampled two different Turzum (Sungma) 1st flush DJs last year and their invoice #5 has been one of my favorite Himalayan teas from 2016 as well. I still have more than 50g left and look forward to enjoying them to the max.

Hi kuánglóng,
I like Darjeeling teas a lot and I would like to know if you know a place to buy online and maybe get sample of himalayan teas ?
And I read you have himalayan teas gongfu style, once I tried in a gaiwan but wasn't to happy with the result. Do you use lot of leaves in a tiny teapots and do you get multiple infusions ?

[kuánglóng]

Hi kuánglóng,
I like Darjeeling teas a lot and I would like to know if you know a place to buy online and maybe get sample of himalayan teas ?
And I read you have himalayan teas gongfu style, once I tried in a gaiwan but wasn't to happy with the result. Do you use lot of leaves in a tiny teapots and do you get multiple infusions ?

mael

I can't exactly recommend any of the stores over here (I'm still 'on the road') since it's been some sort of a hit and miss experience for a while now and I still get at least half of my DJs and Nepali teas from old friends in the hills. You'd probably be better off getting those teas straight from where they grow as well, eg. from the Tea Emporium, thunderbolt, Nathmulls, Golden Tips, the Teabox or the Lochans to name but a few.
Re. samples some of those folks don't like the idea too much and would rather sell you their stuff by the chest but you can always ask. AFAIR the Teabox used to sell sample packs but it's been a while since I bought anything from them.
With regards to gongfuing Himalayan leaves I'm mostly using smaller (bone) porcelain or celadon gaiwans or pots with around 80-100ml capacity, about 4g of leaves, start with shorter steeps (3-8s) and move on from there. As usual the temperature is pretty crucial, and it takes a bit of practice and patience but at the end of the day I'm getting more nuanced impressions, complexity (not to mention dynamics) and enjoyment out of those leaves than what I'd get from single steeps in larger pots.

[pedant]

+1 on thunderbolt and tea emporium.

i once got a rather extensive sampler from teabox... honestly it was mostly junk. the best of them were OK at best. cannot recommend them.

has anyone ordered from lochan recently? if so, what was your impression of quality?

[joelbct]

Special Tribute Keemun from Hojo. 7800JPY / $72USD for 30g size, comes to $12 for 5g session. Volume discount drops to about $10/session if you buy $1200 worth But this is actually worth the price imho, for a black/red tea lover who wants to splurge or has the means.

If my memory serves correctly, it's pretty much exactly the tea I hoped it would be, similar to one I used to buy from the Ito En Madison Ave flagship boutique 7-10 years ago. Apparently these high grades of Keemun are from one particular factory, the ex-state-owned concern simply called "Keemun Tea Factory."

I posted the following on r/Tea as well.

Smooth, complex, balanced, not harsh, not smokey though some tobacco notes, much different than Hao Ya or Mao Feng. Quite a treat. So much so that part of me would rather keep it a secret.

Dry Leaf: http://imgur.com/a/24odW

Wet Leaf: http://imgur.com/a/Wukgi

Liquor: http://imgur.com/a/OHdc0

Pouch: http://imgur.com/a/eqqr9

http://hojotea.com/item_e/b12e.htm

[William]

Special Tribute Keemun from Hojo. 7800JPY / $72USD for 30g size, comes to $12 for 5g session. Volume discount drops to about $10/session if you buy $1200 worth But this is actually worth the price imho, for a black/red tea lover who wants to splurge or has the means.

If my memory serves correctly, it's pretty much exactly the tea I hoped it would be, similar to one I used to buy from the Ito En Madison Ave flagship boutique 7-10 years ago. Apparently these high grades of Keemun are from one particular factory, the ex-state-owned concern simply called "Keemun Tea Factory."

I posted the following on r/Tea as well.

Smooth, complex, balanced, not harsh, not smokey though some tobacco notes, much different than Hao Ya or Mao Feng. Quite a treat. So much so that part of me would rather keep it a secret.

Dry Leaf: http://imgur.com/a/24odW

Wet Leaf: http://imgur.com/a/Wukgi

Liquor: http://imgur.com/a/OHdc0

Pouch: http://imgur.com/a/eqqr9

http://hojotea.com/item_e/b12e.htm

Look at this beauty, the leaves themselves are so tempting .. I think I will order some tomorrow morning
Btw your are so right on this, so far the best Keemun I had were all from the ex-state-owned Keemun factory, they sure know how to process Keemun tea