Ying De Hong

My TeaSpring order has finally arrived! And it wasn’t even opened by Customs, which frankly is a suprise. I really cannot for the life of me see any system to which parcels they check and which they don’t. But anyway, if they had chosen to open this one, it would surely have meant customs fees so I’m certainly not complaining.

This order contained basically nearly every type of black tea on their site, except for Lapsang Souchong and their Bai Lin and some Yunnans. I’m not sure why I didn’t order the Bai Lin as well, actually, but perhaps I ran out of money. Anyway, one of almost every sort. Only one of the handful of different Keemuns, though. There are limits to even my madness.

The purpose of this excersize is to explore other parts of China rather than merely focusing on Fujian and an assortment of Keemuns, so obviously I needed a wide array to choose from, right? Right. innocent grin

Now, as it turns out, I’ve actually had this one before. Three years ago, and I wasn’t super-impressed by it then. This was before I fell in love with Chinese black in general and Fujian in particular, so I suspect I may have a different experience of it now. At the time of ordering I wasn’t aware that I’d had it before. This one is from Guangdong which is just to the south of Fujian, so I’m expecting something similar-ish to that. Although, I only know the geographical location, I have no clue about what the growing conditions are like.

The aroma is quite grainy, slightly cocoa-y and ever so slightly floral. It smells very smooth and inviting, and somewhat similar to Fujian, but rather milder.

Three years ago, I thought this was thin tasting? Really? peers into cup Really? While it is in no way a very strong or very bold tea, this, it certainly isn’t thinly tasting. It’s quite sweet, and slightly grain-y but not very much. I would say it has a wooden note to it, but bizarrely that particular note makes me think more of bamboo than of wood. And when I say bamboo, I mean the processed stuff which is made into things same way as you can make stuff out of wood. (We bought a kitchen knife holder made of bamboo recently, it’s really a very pretty material!) I don’t know anything about what bamboo tastes like though, but that’s the association I get.

Where was I. Sweet and slightly grainy with a note of bamboo. Right. What else is in here?

Like the aroma hinted, it’s a very smooth tea, this. I suspect it’s one of those that you can steep for an eternity with very little damage done. TeaSpring mentions a pepper-y note with a sweet finish, but I can’t really find that. I think their pepper-y note might be the same one that I identify as bamboo. That’s just as well, since pepper-y notes is something I associate with Yunnan, and I’m quite ambivalent about those teas.

I’m definitely enjoying this one more than I did when I had it three years ago. Back then I only thought it worth 71 points, but I will raise that now. It’s also very nice with a piece of wedding cake II. My parents-in-law sent us the rest of the wedding presents that we couldn’t travel with and included a huge piece of the wedding cake that my mother-in-law made for our UK reception. It’s a fruitcake, so it travels excellently. The combination with this tea feels quite decadent.

Goodmorning Steepster. If it is a good morning. I doubt it.

It’s one of those mornings where I first woke up and went, “OMG it’s light outside, I’m late for work, why did the alarm clock not ring?” and I’m halfway out of bed in a state complete panic before I remember, “Oh wait, I think it’s sunday…”

And then went back to sleep which turned out to be stupid because I proceeded to have a strange dream about nuts and woke up with a massive headache. Lovely.

This calls for a good plain black, and while I had initially thought Lapsang Souchong, I changed my mind and decided that I might as well finish off this tin instead. Apart from the Pu Ti Cha which is for even more special occasions than the Pai Mu Tan, I’m officially run out of Teaspring teas.

So what do we think of it? I can’t remember what I thought the last time I had it but the rating I’ve given it seems to be a bit mediocre. The aroma reminds me of english breakfast. It’s the same sort of prickly tea smell with honey notes that you also get in the average Ceylon. It has a bit of that special Ceylon smell. I wonder if that prickly bit is what people mean when they say ‘peppery’, although it doesn’t remind me of pepper at all.

Teaspring describes it as having a peppery note and a sweet finish. If the prickly that doesn’t remind me of pepper at all is the peppery note, then I’ve found it. If it isn’t, then I’m stumped. Not sure about the sweet finish, though. I’ve got a finish that’s different from the initial flavour, yes, but I wouldn’t call it sweet. I’d call it… slightly grassy. Slightly green. Mostly though I’ve got the peppery stuff in the aftertaste.

It’s a pretty strong black, this. Dark in the cup too and with plenty of flavour. LOTS of flavour. It’s just a shame that it’s not a flavour that shouts, “HEY! DRINK ME!” At least it’s not shouting very loudly. I might as well have had a Ceylon or a good quality english breakfast blend.

I’m pushing the rating up a bit, though, because it’s better than that when put in the right comparisons. But I can’t give it more than this.

I’d forgotten I had this. As in… I hadn’t really forgotten as such, I just knew there was very little left and I didn’t think it would be enough for a pot so I didn’t bother with it until yesterday when I looked in the tin and got a surprise. I’ve made a small pot of it now and there should be enough for another small pot.

For a black tea the leaves seem a bit on the large side and they smell nice and sweet. For having been forgotten for the better part of six months and purchased who knows how much earlier than that, they have definitely retained aroma.

It’s relatively light in colour and while the dry leaves had a very good aroma the tea seems to have little. It’s there and it’s very similar to the ‘dry’ aroma, but it’s not as pronounced.

I’ve logged it before as a tea that disappointed me a little. While good, it didn’t live up to my expectations of it. I described it as sort of delicate but not really. I’m not sure what I meant with that… Today I would say it’s fairly delicate, period.

It’s possible it’s lost a bit of flavour, but I’m quite happy with my collection of tins that are all air-tight and light-proof and I would claim that I’m storing my correctly, so I don’t really think it would have lost all that much. I think it’s just supposed to be this way.

So, delicate. Yes. Not nearly as sweet as the smell of it would have you believe and not much in the way of after taste. Even somewhat oversteeped (10 minutes or so ahem) I didn’t really get a whole lost of flavour out of it. If the flavour intensity could be doubled or trippled, I’d like it a lot. I’d say it was a nice and smooth tea.

Apart from not really sure what I actually meant the last time I logged it, I think I still agree with myself that I had too high expectations of it. I’m finding it a bit boring and probably wouldn’t try it again. So I’m neutral on this one.