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Amy oh

302 Followers / 332 Following

Zealong Black from Ya-Ya House of Excellent Teas

Amy oh drank Zealong Black by Ya-Ya House of Excellent Teas

Thanks so much to Dorothy for this tea sample!

I think this is my first zealong tea so I wasn’t too sure what to expect here. She told me it wasn’t a good short steeper so I used the regular teapot method here and steeped it for 4 minutes. I think I had 2 tsp. or so of tea for an 18 oz. teapot.

I got a medium brownish red tea liquor here. The flavor of the tea is slightly malty and grainy with a very nice floral element. I’m impressed by the lovely sweet tone in the finish of this tea. It lingers for a while and is very pleasant; has a smooth almost creamy quality. This is an easy tea to sip on plain and I am really enjoying it this morning. It reminds me a bit of some Chinese congou teas I have had recently.

Thanks for the sample Dorothy!

2012-07-27 11:57:21 -0400

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4 min 0 sec

I Like This

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4 comments

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Comments

Scott B 2012-07-27 13:04:44 -0400

I’ve never heard of Zealong tea.

ashmanra 2012-07-27 14:58:11 -0400

Steepsterite Sandy actually went to the plantation and had tea there in New Zealand. Chicago Tea Room used to carry their teas. There was Zealong Dark, Zealong Light, and Zealong Aromatic I think at that time.

RachanaC (Rachel)-iHeartTeas 2012-07-27 15:16:42 -0400

Yes, and I carried samples of them on my site for a short time as well. Here is the selection…
1. Zealong Pure
2. Zealong Aromatic
3. Zealong Dark
Those mentioned above are listed from lightest to darkest and are all oolong.
The newest to the Zealong family is Zealong Black. This is not an oolong but an actual black tea. It is amazing, clean, but all are very pricey in my opinion. I actually have an unopened back that I bought directly from Zealong at the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas. I hadn’t considered post it online for purchase (sample sizes only of course) only because I felt maybe the cost would be unreasonable.
Overall, the cost is the only draw back. They are a wonderful producer of high quality teas but just not at most tea drinkers budget. Of course I could be wrong. :)

Dorothy 2012-08-01 13:10:41 -0400

Just saw your note on this, glad you liked it. The Zealong Black is a pretty interesting tea to drink because it’s such a different experience. :)

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My profile pic is of a pink dahlia at Golden Gate Park.

Hobbies include: tea, making art, animals, vegan things, buddhism, nature, creativity, books, writing, cooking, meditation, yoga.

I am a fan of many different teas but my favorites are blacks and oolongs, also like darjeeling and pu-erh. I’n always learning and expanding my horizons!

Dislikes include: bergamot, jasmine, highly tannic or bitter teas, overly judgmental and bitter people. :)

Live in San Francisco, I’m a SINK (single income, no kids) and love the urban life, but traveling out to the middle of nowhere is always fun too.

I tend to not drink things I know I will hate so a lot of my tea ratings are on the higher side. Here’s my rating system, sorta

95-100 I love this tea and would like to keep it around

94-90 An excellent tea which I may or may not repurchase

89-80 Pretty good, above average

79-70 Acceptable

69-60 Mundane – Will probably drink it if I have it

59-50 Ick

49 and below Nasty