Yunnan Black Special Grade

I’m on my second cup of this, and I like the second steep much better than the first. But then again, I slurped the first one back when it was still a little too hot. This second steep was silky smooth and sweet. This is really good.

I’m pretty impressed with Capital Tea’s and am looking forward to seeing them at the tea festival. I’ll have to try more of their tea’s before I go.

My thanks to Dexter3657 for introducing me to their teas :)

Still MOAR from Dexter3657! Whee.

Confession: despite their popularity, if I’m remembering right I’ve never had my socks knocked off by typical Yunnan Black. Over a year ago when I got back into tea and started off with David’s loose leaf blacks I got some of their Yunnan and really didn’t like it (like just about all of those David’s straight teas I tried, it tasted like watery nothing). And when I fell in love with Verdant’s blacks I remember the one that stood out as NOT winning me over immediately was the Yunnan Black. I never think they taste “bad” really; usually I simply don’t taste much, period. They’re SO smooth and (again, to me usually) sweet but in a boring, straightforward way (I get the feeling I tend toward craving a little “rasp” to my tea as a throwback to my early tea drinking days when it was all legacy-style stuff, mostly Indian; Chinese expertise at making ever smoother and sweeter teas is sometimes lost on me as a result).

So that makes me all the more pleased to find I like this one a lot! It still has that characteristic off-the-charts smoothness and is quite sweet, but this time the sweetness comes across as soothing, satisfying, with a depth to it I really enjoy. It’s not actually caramel-like in that there isn’t a toasted or burnt sugar element, but it’s rich and a little creamy in a vaguely related way. It’s best while still pretty hot; as it cools, that watered down quality to the sweetness begins to creep in somehow. While hot, it has a rounded, rich and satisfying quality that reminds me a bit of what makes Dragon Pearls so appealing (though I should note, it never approaches the actual thickness of Dragon Pearls).

My first official Yunnan Black I like a lot (well, unless I’m forgetting one that isn’t labeled/marketed outright as such)! Woo hoo. Capital Tea, you’re winning me over big time.

I feel like writing lazy tasting notes today! :D This sample came from the lovely Dexter.

This tea is a bit too earthy for me, as I tend to prefer the lighter Yunnan teas. It does have some nice flavors going on, though! I can taste a bit of dark, syrupy raisin and there are caramelized sugar undertones going on, though not a lot of sweetness. The main flavors are earth and wood, which are not my favorites. Perhaps a teeny touch of some sort of herb near the end?

Thanks, Dexter! I appreciate the chance to try these teas even if I don’t love all of them. :)