Going on vacation totally messed with my normal tea-drinking schedule so I’m happy to get back home if only for the chance to dig back into some teas I’ve been wanting to try. (Mind you, lack of my regular tea brewing ability was about the only thing close to negative for my vacation and the beach being half a block from my apartment? Made it fairly worth it.)
This one is another sample provided by Arbor Teas. I generally enjoy Yunnans lots so I’m looking forward to it. The smell of the dry leaf is nicely promising – sweet and malty and thick and yummy. Mmm. The steeped tea has the same great smell but with an added creamy undertone and something almost red-wine-like.
Initially, the taste struck me as a bit watery and thin on the front end; sweetness and malt and a hint of tasty (tasty, mind you, not icky) cardboard came next in at the middle of the sip, then a delightfully sweet and almost floral taste hit at the end of the sip and expanded through the aftertaste. The sweet flavor was more of a caramelized sugar sweetness than the raisin- or fig-like sweetness I typically get from Yunnans. After the tea cooled a little more, the initial taste no longer felt watery, just smooth and with a thinner mouthfeel, which I think threw me off a little at the first.
Second steep (4min) is smooth, sweet and has a touch more texture. The hint of cardboard-ish starch is gone, as is most of the malty except in the aftertaste and I’m left with a nicely sweet, smooth, tasty tea. Very nice.
2.7g/7oz
