Golden Bi Luo

First Yunnan sample I picked out for the husband. Cute snails, he thought they were creepy. We brewed a small amount, 8 oz which is perfect for our two 4 oz cups. I did a quick rinse then a one minute steep with slightly below boiling water, which is lucky really as I didn’t have the steeping parameters but knew my husband didn’t like super short steeps but I didn’t want to risk a long one so I planned on doing three infusions at 1, 2 and 3 mins each.

I probably could have used more leaf but the first infusion came out smooth, light and with a hint of honey sweetness. Husband said it was nice, but there was nothing remarkable about it and he definitely didn’t get vanilla, I figured it would come through in a later infusion.

So I rebrewed and my husband and I had the same reaction, we wanted to scrape our tongues to get rid of the feeling on them. I wouldn’t call it bitter, but it was an odd kind of astringent, it felt cool and the taste was pretty mild. Now I don’t care much for second steeps on most teas and the husband doesn’t like rein fusing British blends because of this similar feeling it yields. So while he ordinarily chalks it up to the quality or just the nature of black teas, I promised the third infusion would be better.

Not so, it had a little bit of a buttery mouthfeel but it turned dry and was bland. I experimented with a short steep to see if the tea had anything left to give, but no. Me thinks I abused it and shall treat what is left of it more kindly. I’m excited for him to try Verdant’s Yunnan blacks, but we both realized tonight was not the night.

I go this as a free sample from Chicago Tea Company so thank you so much. This looks like black and brown twisted circles. Smelled like black tea.This smells like black tea. I steeped this up. This taste like a good black tea abit malty strong but not over the top and I added sugar. This tea is really good.

I got this tea as a free sample from Chicago Tea Garden. I am drinking the second steeping of this tea because I gave my husband the first steeping and according to the directions I don’t have enough tea for more than 1.5 cups (I have just enough left for a tiny mug). So I used the amount suggested and made 2 steepings saving the small amount of tea left for another day.

The leaves are really pretty: golden in color and rolled up into little curly-q balls. The tea has no bitterness and very little astringency. It is nice and malty. I’m trying really hard to come up with something that makes this tea special and I am only finding the smoothness of the tea to be special. Otherwise, it tastes like a black tea.

5g to 11 oz.

I forgot I even had this when I was digging around for new teas to try. I thought I had passed on all my golden teas to my brother. Oh, glorious morning! This tastes just like a Yunnan gold-tipped Dian Hong only with a lighter mouthfeel. It’s sweet, earthy, partially creamy, medium-malty…and quite the waker-upper.

Full Review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

First tea of the day for me. I really like this tea, it’s a rich black tea and a bit creamy with vanilla tones mixed in. I like this a lot.

So I, like many, have received the recent newsletter about the closing sale of Chicago tea garden, something that saddened me a little. While I had only purchased two teas from them (this one and the Tie Guan Yin), I did see myself purchasing more from them in the future thanks to their amazing presentation (Tea info cards with free quality tins?). I was waiting on their 2012 teas to make my next round of purchases but seems that will never happen. So while I’ve had this for a while, I never bothered to write a note of it (like so many of my other teas, sigh I just have so many right now). So anyways here it is, before it quickly becomes irrelevant.

>Dry Leaf Appearance/Aroma
Small fuzzy golden curls, very uniform in shape. Like little golden nuggets. Aroma is that of a typical yunnan black, spicy and peppery but this one is milder and with maybe a touch of vanilla.

>Brewing Method
Following CTG’s intructions, boiling water, 1 min. 1 infusion.

>Liquid Appearance
Dark amber.

>Taste/Aroma
Not as aromatic as other yunnans, but taste-wise it is mildly peppery, sweet, and with subtle hints of vanilla. I sometimes pick up a little fruitiness similar to that of a Keemum. It is smooth and has absolutely no bitterness.

>Wet Leaf Appearance
The tight curls unfurl into long thin needle buds, dark clay like in color.

>Overall
As a fan of Yunnan blacks, I have enjoyed this tea a lot. It is milder in taste than others and notes of vanilla are more apparent in this one than the other I have. These subtle differences make it unique enough to differentiate it from other Yunnans. I will certainly miss it once I run out of it.

1st infusion: 2 minutes, boiling water
Despite the reviews here I was still rather surprised at the lightness/delicateness of this for a black tea. The deep red liquor was lightly malty, woodsy, and a tad fruity.

2nd infusion: 2 1/2 minutes, boiling water
The color is only slightly lighter but the flavor is much lighter and the fruity note has vanished.

A nice tea but not something I can’t live without.

Having not found a black tea that I could drink everyday, finding this tea was a great thing. This tea if brewed correctly will need no cream or sweetener. I brewed 3g of it in my Gaiwan for 1minute. It lasted for many steepings, but started loosing its flavor around steeping 8.

So I was off a couple days and didn’t update this one, but boy am I glad I waited!

Initially I made a pot of this for a friend and I, thinking it was going to be sweet perhaps. The flavors in this tea are amazing, but expect savory, not sweet. It’s very malt-y, which I didn’t care too much for on the first infusion. We only infused it once until we moved on to the next tea.

Well…

Today I had work, and had my new Aladdin Infuser Mug too (love it!). I wanted to bring a tea with me that could survive multiple infusions, so I decided to give this another whirl. It was phenomenal! The first infusion is OK, very strong, but the second infusions onward were very much enjoyed. I got 5 infusions out of my leaves before I tossed them!

Oh and that reminds me, I’ve seen the word “mouthfeel” used a lot, and that’s what I will be using here. This tea is one of the smoothest I’ve ever experienced. It has to be experienced!

Fresh, rich, and creamy. Quite yummy and a standout amongst Yunnan golds.