Tillerman Formosa Yancha

Update: The first time I steeped this, I didn’t use enough leaves which prevented much of the flavor and aroma from coming out. After giving more time and more leaves I found it to be a very good tea, and had to reassess my initial post. I could smell an apple vinegar aroma off the tea, which was very pleasant, and yet this scent didn’t translate into a sour taste or anything unpleasant with the tea taste. The taste was very pleasant, upon steeping for nearly an hour it became very fruity in both aroma and taste. Very good tea! I’d disregard my initial posting below, and leave it as a cautionary note about using the right amount of leaves when steeping.

I really wanted to like this tea more, but while it is a good tea, I didn’t find it particularly exceptional in any area. The chocolatey aroma of the dry leaves left me initially impressed, but after steeping it, I didn’t find it open or expose anything amazing in the flavor department. The taste was pleasant with smooth well balanced flavor notes, the chocolate aroma accented with a slight nutty and earthy flavor was good. Despite this, compared to some other cliff tea I’ve had – it wasn’t as strong for flavor as I would like, so I may try steeping it with more tea next time and that may help. Again, certainly not a bad tea, in fact a very good tea, but just not one of my top ranking teas either.

I found that when I steep this tea at 185 for 60 seconds initial brew I get a much more pleasing flavor profile of chocolate, raisin & nut. With this tea you have to use more leaf than you are accustomed to in order to get a strong flavor. The dry leaf aroma is amazing! I eventually will, on my 6th infusion, steep for up to 3min at 185 each infusion. Formosa Yancha does change to a fruity almost malty flavor after the 5 th infusion. This has been a converter tea for me. I make this tea for people who have never experienced loose leaf tea or Oolong, and are only familiar with the typical mass produced bagged black teas. This is a tea that will impresse new tea drinkers without overwhelming them. I still drink this tea, it is a wonderful cold weather or foggy morning brew. There is a welcome astringency & a comforting quality about this tea. I have at times picked up a note of mint, I have even had those I made the tea for ask if there was mint in it.