Nicole, you’ll be happy to hear that another one of the teas you sent found a good home! Thank you! I’ve sipped this before but just now writing a note. I’m not sure where the ‘gold’ in the name of this one comes from. The leaves are pretty dark – the color and shape actually remind me of a loose ripe pu-erh. They could be cousins because even while using two teaspoons of leaves, this one doesn’t get bitter like a ripe pu-erh. The color of the brew is also a deep dark red (nothing light and gold there!) The flavor is something unique to me – dark while being bright and fresh tasting (maybe fruity) but also a lot of bready notes. I usually don’t taste all of those together in the same tea, which might be what makes it unique. Not like a typical Yunnan profile to me. Nothing chocolate here. I almost couldn’t tell the difference between the two steeps so this is a great tea to have to avoid that oversteeped leaves flavor. And the steeped leaves filled up half the infuser basket!
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // 12 minutes after boiling // 2-3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 min
Flavors: Bread, Malt
Woot! So glad you like it!