Ancient Golden Yunnan

Very disappointed with this one. I’m not getting any of the flavors described in Rishi’s description or people’s tasting notes. I don’t taste any caramel, any chocolate, any raisin or really anything beyond a simple “black tea taste”. It just tastes like your run of the mill breakfast blend to me. Simple, flat, boring. I hate to be such a critic but it really bothers me when I feel like I’ve completely wasted my money on a tea. It doesn’t even taste like a Yunnan tea to me, it just tastes like a flat assam. Oh well…

The leaves are beautiful with black and gold interspersed. The tea itself is black as coffee but smells like resin and what I have come to identify as the elusive malty fragrance and something else. It tastes marvelous with notes of caramel, cocoa, malt, and sweet tea. It is what I need this morning before my run.

This is one of my favorites when I want a strong, flavorful black tea to help wake me up. I get notes of raisin, chocolate, cola caramel, and sort of a baked-goods kind of feel from this tea. I find that adding a pinch of Truvia helps bring out the flavors. This is a full-bodied, well-rounded tea.

This is a great cup to start your day with! It’s Robust and malty yet sweet and almost caramelly. I can pick out the raisin comparison they mentioned in the description but not-so-much the chocolate they speak of but that’s ok because I like the taste I am tasting as it is! Bold and Beautiful Cup!!

I was very excited when I found this tin on the clearance table in Taste, a little foodie/kitchen shop in Decatur. I only paid $5 for 3.2 ounces! Also, the lady behind the counter turned out to be the new owner, and she asked me to come in and help her figure out what new teas to carry! I’m happy to help!

So, after a night of drinking and watching shuffleboard at Twain’s, I wanted something iced and fast. I was cautious since it’s new to me, so I only gave it 4 minutes to steep. I used two generous teaspoons versus 16 ounces of ice and water. The result was a little milder than I was expecting. It still had that lovely malty but fruity taste I’ve come to adore from yunnans, but it just didn’t pack a punch. There was also a hint of caramel and smokiness, which kinda makes this an ideal black tea for me, but I’m going to have to work on making it stronger. Maybe next time I’ll do five minutes and 2.5 teaspoons.

This is a great tea. It has that raisiny sugar smell and this one has caramel, cocoa and a sweet undertone to it. The leaves are black and gold and have a fresh malty smell. I like this tea very much.

This is my last caffeinated tea of the day and I’m glad that I picked this one! It has a great peppery bite with a great caramel sweetness towards the end of the sip. I can tell that I need to spend more time with this tea in order to fully appreciate its complexity, but I do really like it!

In the morning, I want an in-your-face, take-no-prisoners sort of black tea. I want it to rip the everlasting sleepiness out of me. I want something that barks. A loud, vicious bark. Caffeine is not the sole driver of this. Flavors, feelings, textures all play their part. A lively, energetic harmony. Enter stage: Rishi’s Golden Yunnan.

The dry leaf is dusty and earthy with some sweet notes. The wet leaf has a strong-muscular earthy tone. The liquor is less fragrant than the dry and wet to my nose. Sipping this tea is experiencing a certain polarity; a bold crispness and a sweet smoothness live in friendly coexistence. The bold elements play in the front of the mouth. After sipping, there are crisp peppery notes that dance on the tip of my tongue and the back of my lips. Awakening. Spirited. Sharp. The back of the mouth is a different story and experiences a nice smooth sweet flavor. A mild caramel note. The aftertaste in the back of the mouth is one of relaxation with little to no astringency. Softening. Balancing. Overall, it’s a bit Jekyll and Hyde, but it works.

This is one of my go-to morning black teas. It’s strong and biting enough to wake me up, but with enough smooth and sweet notes to not be overly bitter or jarring. This tea is the pit bull that exhibits an angry face and barks like mad. But once you get to know this scary canine, the mutt is really quite a softy. Don’t be shy, rub the belly of this pup.

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea. I really needed to wake up today as I’m having a hard time shaking off that desire to go back to bed. This helps!

This is a robust, delicious tea. I am really getting the raisin-y taste here, it is nice and sweet. A pleasant malty tone. Rich and bold. I like it very much.

I’m… not liking this one as much as I’d hoped. They recommend a lot of leaf – I’m using about half the suggestion, at 1 1/2 tsp for 8oz, and I think even this might be too strong? I really don’t know. My steeping time was right on :/ Maybe a second steep will go better?

This tastes dark, a little bitter, but mostly just kind of muddy. Like puerh, almost, without the barnyard flavor. I’m having a lot of trouble pulling individual flavors out of the earthiness. I’ll keep playing with it, but at this point I definitely wouldn’t buy more.

Having just opened my Black Tea Sampler from Rishi Teas, this was the first tasting out of the group. I am a big fan of Yunnan teas and brewed this with trepidation, a bit of taster’s skepticism – and a big dollop of hope. I was very pleased! Nice robust flavor, with that distinct malty aroma. No acidity and a wonderful caramel finish. This is a tea of exceptional quality and is organic and fair trade certified as well.

This tea is also gorgeous to look at and to smell coming fresh from the bag. Totally different scent when dry, reminding me of walking into a tobacco store (in a good way). I wonder if I can make up some kind of device to hang around my neck so I can sniff at this tea all day! :)

Wow, I am quite impressed with this tea! Has a wonderful smooth taste that is malty and has a dark sweetness to it. No astringency or bitterness and has a small hint of earthy pepper. To top it off, I was able to get 3 infusions out of 1 tsp and probably could get another one or two but have to head off to a rehearsal. I am really glad I picked this up!

I bought this wondering how it would compare to Zhi’s Ancient Forest and found it more different than similar.

The scent of the leaf reminds me of a shoe pu erh with a bit of smoke. Once steeped, the nose reveals the malty raisin everyone keeps pointing out. But sipping, I find the robust black nature (tannins, mild astringency, and peppery notes) competing strongly with the malty goodness. I have to let it sit on my tongue to get to the fruit.

This may be due to steeping technique. I did 3 tsp per 8 oz @ boiling for over 4 minutes. I may back down the temperature and time and see if I can get enough of the milder elements without so much astringency. Overall, a great tea but not really my taste. If it is going to have fruit, I tend to want brighter fruit notes (such a apricot) in my blacks. If it’s going to be earthy, I prefer chocolate overtones.

Dry leaf is incredibly fruity, but the tea is not. Instead, it’s malty, deep, and somewhat tannic. Assam-like, but with less edge. I really like this tea, especially given how strong it is.

Every time I have this it reminds me of Coca-Cola sans the nasty sweetness and carbonation.

This is a dark malty tea. The liquid is as black as coffee. There is no harshness, its actually pretty smooth. Some notes of raisins and malt. Similar to an assam without kicking you in the face!

wow, there are a lot of high ratings for this tea! Recently I’ve started drinking some black tea’s: Cream of Earl Grey, Assam fbop, Darjeeling Bergamot, and Vanilla Earl Grey. I’ve really enjoyed all of them.

The first thing that comes to mind when drinking this Yunnan is malty, earthy, and bold. I only steeped it for 3 minutes because I like tea slightly more mild, especially when it comes to the bitterness and robustness associated with some black teas. A three minute steep made this tea very tolerable and enjoyable for me. I didn’t catch any of the caramel finish, in fact, I find this tea very “strict”. It hits you immediately, but dies off just as quick, probably due to the shorter steep time.

It’s a really nice tea, but too malty and strong for my liking. I’m also not a fan of coffee which also may have something to do with my disposition on this tea. I probably wouldn’t buy again, but it’s clear from all of the other ratings that this tea is a hit!

Couple steeps in and this tea really delivers! I’m “not a black tea guy” but this one has only a very slight astringency, almost not existant, and enough character to keep me interested. The dry leaf scent is unremarkable, but don’t forget to take a sniff of the wet leaf because it is full of raisin caramel goodness. This carries through to the flavor of the tea, which has a really surprising natural sweetness. I can really smell the raisin even from a couple feet away as I write this review. If you’re into unique flavors popping up in black tea, don’t miss out on the equally delicious Hong Yue by Rishi.

An extremely robust, malty tea with a muted caramel finish. You’ll almost need to do a doubletake when you take a sip of this tea because it’s so strong. The directions tell you to use a full tablespoon but I suggest using a teaspoon and brewing it for 3 minutes or less. We made the mistake of following the directions and the tea was somewhat bitter. It does get sweeter, or at least more muted, as it cools, and I love that these leaves hold up to a rebrewing. Ultimately, a high quality, wonderfully dark and strongly caffeeinated tea. I can see why so many people drink this as the morning tea (or as a very concentrated shot of teapresso). Personally, I prefer lighter, naturally sweet teas so I’d drink this tea as a morning jolt only. Still, really great, strong flavor.

This has been my favorite tea for over two years now, its malty sweetness cannot be matched for this type of tea. I haven’t found any other Yunnan black tea that has a similar flavor. It also makes a WONDERFUL iced tea. I mix with a natural cane sugar (Florida Crystals) not the darker the lighter sugar. Everyone who has tasted this at my place is just struck at how good of iced tea this is compared to anything they have ever tried. I make a pot in the morning and then use it for iced tea later in the day. This is a dark infusion and gets sweeter as it cools. While they say you can do multiple infusions a lot of the complexity is lost in a later infusion.