nine dragon golden needle

Hi there!

This is actually a very popular and well loved kind of Chinese black tea. In Chinese, it’s usually referred to as Dian Hong (Yunnan Red… red tea=black tea in China). Many companies offer their own version of this kind of tea, but the names vary between Yunnan Golden Buds to Golden Needle to Yunnan Golden Downy Pekoe Supreme Buddha’s Delight…etc etc.

If you search on Steepster (up in the “Find a Tea” area), you’ll probably have the best luck if you search for Yunnan Gold. Might also be referred to as Yunnan Black, too.

If there are any other local teashops near you, they should definitely have this kind of black tea if they offer any Chinese blacks (Yunnan and Keemen are probably the two most common Chinese black teas). It’s always fun to sample what your local shops have when you’re discovering new teas.

If you really like Golden Buds, you should probably also check out other teas that are made of buds. Look for black teas with Gold or Golden in the name, or that clearly contains orange buds. “Tippy” means the same thing for Indian teas. You would probably also enjoy Yunnan bud-based green teas, nice budset Yunnan whites, and even an interesting pu’er called Yabao / Ya Bao. Budset teas from Yunnan share this certain delicious characteristic that is hard for me to put my finger on, but I suspect you might enjoy them all.
Another reason to check out local tea shops so that you can ask them.. “I like Yunnan Golden Needle teas. What others do you recommend?” or.. “What teas do you have from Yunnan? What teas do you have that are made of buds?”

Happy drinking!

Thanks very much. That was super informative :) !

If you are looking for a black tea (“golden” black) from Yunnan (probably my favorite kind of black tea) I recommend these two:
http://steepster.com/teas/rishi-tea/328-yunnan-golden-buds-golden-needle
and
http://steepster.com/search?products=on&q=yunnan+golden+life+in+teacup

They are both excellent!

Thanks I will give them a try :)

Does this also apply to Golden Monkey teas?

Justin, you’ve gotten some good advice about Yunnan teas from other Steepsterites, but may I suggest another Teavana offering you may like?
http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/black-teas/p/black-dragon-pearls-black-tea
It’s not exactly the same as the Nine Dragon tea, but it’s got a wonderful rich, strong, slightly chocolately flavor. I think you’d enjoy it.

I have actually been eye balling that specific tea :-). Was thinking about getting some this weekend. I have tried the golden monkey and enjoyed it, but I had asked about the nine dragon because they said they where discontinuing it. I had read the black dragon pearl description and was intrigued by the thought of a chocolate after taste. Thanks a lot for the suggestion, I will have to try it out this weekend. I will let you know how it goes :-) .

Just put the last spoonful of a packet of Nine Dragon with a spoonful of Golden Monkey. Wow! Try that if you can! So very, very good!

Aunty Proton I gave your suggestion a try and it was pretty good :) thanks for the tip.