Wild Wuyi Black

Delicious, as always. I am having this one today because I have a Mad Scheme to try with it, and wanted to have it in its original state one last time.

My scheme is such: I want a vanilla tea that is made from high quality Chinese tea, so that I can have it at work sans additions. Since I have less than an ounce of this left, I was thinking the remainder of this, with some Zhi Tea Gong Fu Black added to make 2 oz, plus a gorgeous organic vanilla bean cut into it, sit three weeks, and see what happens. Both of the teas are rich and chocolatey, so I’m thinking this should be a very low risk endeavor. I’ll report back!!! :)

Loving the wild, tall, dark, handsome brother of Golden Snail this morning. Unsweetened cocoa and good tea. Complexity. Perhaps we should nickname this tea Heathcliff! ;)

As far as I’m concerned, Harney & Sons have really been hitting home runs with their new-ish teas. I am so very loving this chocolatey wonder. Forget about it steeping? It tastes fantastic! Get busy and it cools? Still amazing. Multiple steeps? Yup! Add a little Rose Congou on the third steep for some zip. Oh yeah!

Yummy, roasty, tangy, chocolately love! Yummy second steep, too.

I read something about how the low crop yield last year made Chinese tea growers harvest wild tea leaves more vigorously than usual. I wonder if this offering stems from this circumstance?! Interesting to ponder!

I’m in a very tea-ish mood today (stuck in office without my usual comrades and unable to take lunch!) so I think I’m going to keep the kettle piping today and put a pinch of rose scented in these leaves for yet another cuppa!

Backlog from the weekend…… (SRP #17, a sipdown)

It was a very busy weekend. I kind of felt like we were running in all directions. Saturday was Solo & Ensemble contest for both of my kids (a flutist and a violist), and Sunday we had a short program with the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW for a writing contest in which my son participated. I know I did not get my usual amount of tea in (and my headaches proved it!)

This, however, was memorable. It is the end of my tin. So sad. I will miss Mr. Dark & Mysterious (and currently irreplaceable) . Perhaps Harney & Sons will find some to offer again.

Usual teapot method.

Tea of the morning…….

This one is getting close to the bottom of the tin. Too bad I can’t replace it, but there are so many other black teas out there that are also complex and wonderful! In a way, it is a good thing, because it will make room for more tea!

Usual teapot method.

Tea of the morning……

Hello, Old Friend. This is one of my ‘savor it’ teas. It seems like it was only available for a short time, and the tins were only two ounces. I am not even sure the last time I had this one! I think I made a mistake by trying to go a little lighter on the leaf. It is not quite as dark and mysterious as the last few pots that I remember. Oh, well. It will still be loved.

Tea of the morning……

Oh, yum! I forgot how wonderful this tea is. It is definitely a little darker and more mysterious than the gong fu blacks I have been drinking. So sad I have only about an ounce left, which is why it is not in my Steepster cupboard. I was very indulgent and made a whole pot of this! I do hope it comes back in stock at Harney some day.

I am also going though my cupboard. I have so many teas that are close, especially in the Chinese black tea category. It is time to resample and hopefully edit! I am getting close to having my flavored blacks under control, but the traditional blacks are another matter. Time to start working on another list for swap!

The tea of the afternoon.

It is hard to know what to write about this one. It is very roasty, complex, chocolatey, slightly smokey, and wonderful. I am a little put off by the cost, but not much once I taste it. Worth every penny! I can’t believe I made a whole pot today. What a treat!

This is accurately described on the Harney website. Dark and intoxicating indeed! There is an assertive cocoa flavor that grabs your senses like a handsome stranger grasping your hand and encircling your waist and looking deep in your eyes when a tango begins to play.

This is the tea that had all the elegance of a Duke, yet had the presence and strength to be paired successfully with rich strawberry ice cream. The two played off of each other very well. I am glad I eat very slowly (though it drives hubby crazy!) so that I still had ice cream left when we served this one at tea party today.

Hints of Golden Monkey by H&S are here, as well as Premium Steap’s delicious Emperor’s Red, but this really is a tea all its own.

I just took this out of my online cupboard because we just finished off the tin at tea party time! Today, this was paired with one of the most quintessential tea treats – cucumber sandwiches, with crusts off. Of course, we still had our cookie plate as well. We have to have the cookie plate.

This was a nice, solid black tea that isn’t astringent but is very smooth and has enough presence to pair well with food. I shall miss it! I need the check their website and see if they still sell this one.

I was craving black tea this morning but there was no time to make it, then middle daughter offered to make a pot for me while she was making hers.

I started out drinking this hot and I am still amazed at what a complex black tea it is. Dark, a bit of molasses flavor, sweet, cocoa notes…and then, I iced it with a little sugar. We were having lunch outside on this beautiful Easter Sunday and POW! Suddenly I get flowers at the end of the sip! I even looked around to see if enough roses were open to have influenced me, but only a few blooms were present and I was upwind from them. I sipped again paying clolse attention and there it was….flowers. There is also a maltiness with a bit of spice that I have found in really excellent Assams, though this is a Wuyi black. Delicious. I will be sorry to see this tin come to an end.

Since I had to drink disappointing tea at lunch I made it up to myself by having something wonderful after. This is similar to Golden Snail, but more refined, and reminds me of Emperor’s Red. Since it has chocolate notes, I had it with Lindt Dark Chocolate Bar With A Touch of Sea Salt. Only two squares, though, I couldn’t eat a whole one at once! Okay, maybe I could, but I know I shouldn’t! Nice walnut flavor at the end of the sip. This is sweet and smooth, no additions needed, though I have had it with milk and sugar and it was breast that way as well.

This was our first tea at tea party yesterday. It was a great companion to the heartier, more savory snacks we served. It is dark and rich enough to stand up to it! As soon as I began to pour, my guest said that she knew it was going to be a good tea just by the beautiful color. LOL! It was so good, in fact, that I am going to make another pot right now!

This was our first tea for tea party today and it was truly arresting. This is a complex and delicious tea, rich and flavorful, great without additions even if you are used to additions. My guest loved this!

You know this tea is special as soon as you open the tin. The aroma of the dry leaves is very complicated. It is hard to believe there are no added flavors.

This is dark, roasted, unsweetened cocoa-y goodness, yet on top of all that I keep feeling like am picking up Darjeeling! There is a fruitiness that I think I hear described as muscatel. If you want a rich and interesting tea experience, try this one. You will not be disappointed!