Joseph Wesley Black Tea

Are we at the point where there are too many high-end, farm to cup tea purveyors? It’s very easy to be seduced by the burgeoning websites touting personal relationships with family farms in China or Estates in India. How much variety is too much? How often is the Chinese black tea from X an upgrade from the one you’ve been enjoying for a while? Maybe the answer is a resounding, “Variety is the spice of life!” But it’s a question I ask myself as I find fewer and fewer of my forays into the offerings of new (to me) sellers end up replacing the teas I’ve come to love and drink regularly.

Now, this is not meant as a criticism of Joseph Wesley’s teas which I’m trying for the first time. I really enjoyed his high end Qimen (not reviewed yet) and this Bai Lin is certainly pleasant. But is the Qimen better than the ones I’ve had from Upton, a place I’ve been ordering from for years and from whom I can order a whole variety of excellent teas? Hard to say. When I go to the store, I can choose between 20 different kinds of olive oil or yogurt but the myriad of choices just makes me anxious (or maybe it’s just the fluorescent lighting).

Anyway, back to this tea, which I’m finding hard to categorize. It’s not as chocolatey as its nose suggests it will be; it’s actually more vegetal and grainy. I think I went too heavy on the leaf the first time—when I used less, I had a better result.

mmm sad to see this one going, but glad that i had the chance to pick up these teas from JW for myself. They’ve been a great addition to my cupboard and will likely be back in the future. Once I get through a few more of my teas.

Pulled this one out this morning – a lovely tea to start the morning off

Another adventure in taste with my mouth today! i like this one a little more than the assam :) I don’t really have much else to say, feeling a little under the weather today and having this tea here with me has helped.

Pulled this one out to enjoy this morning and it was a great decision! smoke…some fruity notes and a little bit of malt. this is a medium sort of black…not too strong and not too wimpy. I’d like to try this one alongside the qimen from JW just to see which i prefer. Maybe when i get back next weekend!

started the day out earlier this morning with this one. As i added two teas to my cupboard yesterday, i’m trying to find a way to get those spaces back pronto! ihad just enough of this one left to enjoy it this morning and save a cup’s worth for terri :) yay for tea sharing. I quite enjoyed having this one in my cupboard but i’m glad i still have the other JW teas to drink now that this one is all gone. :(

delightful cup of tea form this morning. I am quite enjoying this one, though i didn’t have the time to brew it gonfu, it’s still great and gave me a couple resteeps. :)

I’ve had this one a couple times now without writing a review.

chocolate. honey. smooth. slight floral note. middle of the road in terms of strength.

I’m glad i have this one to try. It’s well worth it, though i’d like to try it out non western style i think.

I’ve come to a realization today.
I’m really not that huge on teas with chocolate notes. I mean, I like the Golden Monkey teas that have chocolate notes in it, and GO is pretty good-not my favorite and still don’t know for sure if I’m gonna buy more again. Like I went into GO thinking it was gonna be super vanilla-y. So I was pretty disappointed when it was just chocolate tea basically, but it was more of a deep, richer chocolate…if that makes sense? So I liked it, and I still have a little left, I really should drink the rest soon to see if I still like it. Feel like I used to be bigger on things tasting like chocolate-but only like a deep richer chocolate like GO. I rarely even eat chocolate. If I do it’s because there’s caramel with it or it’s combined with matcha or something.
This tea kinda surprised me. It was a strong flavor but it really reminded me of milk chocolate which I reallyyyy do not like to eat. Even if it’s a chocolate bar filled with caramel it’s just not that good when it is milk chocolate.. White chocolate I like though. Dark chocolate, I have to be in the mood for and that’s becoming more and more rare.
Milk chocolate…just no.
So yeah, I mean, if you LOVE teas that have chocolate flavors this is one for you! It really is chocolatey. It also has hints of like wood….kinda musty actually-even though that sounds horrible, like the chocolate is the main flavor so it’s not bad.
Not my favorite tea, but I have been wanting to try it for so long, so I’m excited I finally did! (:

mmmmm when brewed properly this is a delicious cup. I continue to be a fan of JW teas.

I pulled this one out today so that i could have it at home in a proper mug. That’s the way this tastes the best imo.

tea from earlier today. We’ve had a nice lazy-ish sort of day today as our first weekend where we were both in town and for the most part, he wasn’t working. I enjoy this one, but it’s not my favourite assam. it’s a little drying while also feeling very juicy. That being said, i still really love these offerings from JW and they always make for an enjoyable cup to reflect on.

I thought i’d try this one out today. Monday morning and i wanted something i was fairly certain i’d appreciate. Turns out, i was right. This is a bolder assam, not very malty – more on the sweet side. No bitterness, just a relatively smooth cup. Better review of this one when i can have it in a mug instead of my travel mug :)

So this is the second tea from my first ever order from Joseph Wesley Tea!!! I loveee assam teas, so I got a sample of it. Well, all the teas I got were samples except their Limited Edition TGY that is INCREDIBLE!! I don’t know why I never logged it, it totally slipped my mind! D: I’ll have to do that soon.
Anyway so this is the second one I’m trying!
And holy shanghai!! IT’S ANOTHER HIT! I ADORE this tea!
Since black teas seem to be hit or miss with me these days, it felt like a huge surprise that I loved it so much! The main flavor of course is malt, which is one of my fav flavors in black tea! Tasted a bit of maybe honey…it was kinda sweet, and also kinda a bit chocolate-y. I think I oversteeped it a tiny bit so it also had a bitter note in there.
But overall it’s a total win in my book! I definitely will buy this again. And I am pretty sure it’s gonna be a staple on my shelf.
Another win by Joseph Wesley Tea!!!! :D :D :D

WOW this is DELICIOUS!

I accidentally oversteeped it and it took it like a champ. Super smooth and creamy and malty and sweet but also a little savory. Addictive and so so tasty!! I can’t wait to try it again but more carefully and see what other flavors I can pull from it. YUMS

As soon as I heard that Joseph Wesley has this limited edition for sale I placed an order for 50g. This tea is exceptional quality and taste. Each leaf is perfect thin curl. I made it western 3g 8oz 200F for 3min. The color was amazing bright orange. The tea is complex. It is even hard to describe. Somewhat floral, nutty. It is not heavy and would be perfect as breakfast or afternoon tea in summer. So refined. Doesn’t need any additions. Just perfect. No bitterness or astringency detected.

Next time I’m going to Gongfu it. I’m pretty sure it will taste even better. I would be able to pick up more notes.

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When I saw this one come out, I had to pick it up. I love Qimen, and I already had a couple other JWT teas on my wishlist, so another excuse to make an order!

The leaf is really curly, thin, and a nice rich black color. I used about 4.5g and gongfu brewed it. My first impression was that it reminded me of another Qimen I liked from Nannuoshan Tea. Like that tea, it has a lot of complexity, and the notes are delicious! This one has the usual smokiness, with notes of chocolate and honey! These flavor notes were really distinctive, and I loved it! It was also super smooth. I kind of forgot about my fourth infusion, but I didn’t need to worry about it getting bitter at all. I’m so glad I now have 50g in my cupboard!