I’ve not yet reviewed 2/3 of the tea in the Steepster Select box I won months ago, so I thought I’d get on that. Phoenix Yunnan Gold is a hard one for me, since I’ve never had this type of tea from another brand and black teas are, in general, harder for me to pick out specific tastes from than greens. Ah, well!
The appearance of this tea is nothing special, and the smell of the dry leaf, while distinct, isn’t really for me. I’m definitely getting a bit of a honey-esque scent, and some kind of nonspecific spiciness. I have a feeling that would make some people very happy, but not me.
When I sip, it’s still honey, but a weird, less sweet honey. This tea is naturally sweet, mind, but real honey is sweeter. (I wonder how this would taste with honey added? I don’t know if I have any at the moment.) The second steep reveals more of a spiciness, but I have to search for it. I’m not very impressed overall — it doesn’t seem much different from most ceylons I’ve tasted — but I don’t think it’s a bad tea, it’s just not exciting to me.
I notice the steeping time here suggests one minute, but I went for the 2:30 suggested on the package. Will definitely try the one next time; it doesn’t taste oversteeped right now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the flavors changed for the better.
