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A great sample I received from Teavivre. I set up a proper tasting with degustation sets for each of the teas. Well, I didn’t do the traditional 6 minutes, but I did my best for the type of tea. Here’s my notes.

Dry leaf: wiry and thin for a golden buds tea which in my experience tend to use larger leaves (perhaps this is a different cultivar than I’m used to). This does not bear to judge the tea, as the leaves are still very uniform and beautiful.
Brewing method: 3g, tasting set, 90 for 1.5 minutes
Aroma: Aroma of cinnamon or bitter chocolate.
Infusion: Orange liquor.
Taste: Drying taste as it hits the roof of the mouth. Not as sweet as the aroma implies, but very rich. The taste of earthy sweetness that accompanies a bitter chocolate.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 30 sec
Jim Marks

A golden “tip” should be very small, because anything “tippy” is supposed to be the terminal, unopened leaf bud. So, I would, somewhat cautiously because I am not a true expert, suggest that these smaller leaves means this is better quality rather than potentially lower.

Payton

Well said, Jim. I agree that leaf size is far from a measure of quality and that indeed smaller leaves can carry amazing flavor (Tai Hu Bi Lo Chun, for example). Yunnan is well known for its big leaf varieties, though, even in the “buds”, and often I find all-tips Yunnan teas that seem more akin in size to a Silver Needle (well, that’s a wholly different region). Anyway, I only mentioned the size for comparison to other Golden Buds tea. Many thanks for the comment!

Jim Marks

But… Lipton insists that smaller is better…!

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Jim Marks

A golden “tip” should be very small, because anything “tippy” is supposed to be the terminal, unopened leaf bud. So, I would, somewhat cautiously because I am not a true expert, suggest that these smaller leaves means this is better quality rather than potentially lower.

Payton

Well said, Jim. I agree that leaf size is far from a measure of quality and that indeed smaller leaves can carry amazing flavor (Tai Hu Bi Lo Chun, for example). Yunnan is well known for its big leaf varieties, though, even in the “buds”, and often I find all-tips Yunnan teas that seem more akin in size to a Silver Needle (well, that’s a wholly different region). Anyway, I only mentioned the size for comparison to other Golden Buds tea. Many thanks for the comment!

Jim Marks

But… Lipton insists that smaller is better…!

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A tea geek (and also general geek) in Burlington, Vermont.

I’m drawn to the beauty of a steaming cup with snow falling outside. When I see a tea leaf, I see the long road and hundreds of hands that have brought it from the sun and soil to my pot.

I think that tea can be a way of life.

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