Nine Dragon Golden Needle Black Tea

Thank you Jason for this tea sample!

Yesterday I Oolanged about. That languid frame of mind I have about Oolongs. There has to be some peace and quiet when I sip them.

Black tea on the other hand is best in the morning when I have things to accomplish! No need to settle my spirit first. A good black tea is like my favorite jeans.(Ok, some are truly elegent. And Exeptional!)

Jason has read enough of my reviews that we connected on the mutual enjoyment of Black Tea. When we did a recent sample swap (easier to do when you live in the same State) I was delighted that he remembered to include some favorites including this tea.

Bonnie likes her Black Tea Strong! I doubled the recommended steep time of 2 minutes to 4 minutes (hee hee) which was PERFECT for my taste!
No astringency whatever. The beautiful dark golden brown liquor was
like velvet in my mouth, smooth but rich. The taste bright and young with an orange pekoe flavor and soft malt. There was no smoky flavor.

I drank one cup and refilled my mug again…now I was discovering a honey, warm homemade bread taste with a vanilla cream finish. Sigh.

I sat still when my 3 mugs of tea were gone. I was satisfied and full. The flavor was not only lingering but tingling on my tongue…prickly little nettles…reminding me like a tiny tempting voice that I could resteep and drink again.

I could do that. I want to drink more of this tea to begin my day but… I have to set up a Hooka Bar date with my 18 year old granddaughter Schey ( she wants to go with me…) and tomorrow the 16 year old Megan wants to go to A Taste of Fort Collins downtown, and my Rav4 is up for sale, and I have to learn how to ride the bus (ugh), and review more tea!

But, I think I have some time for another cup of THIS tea! Thanks Jason!

Many thanks to Autumn Hearth for her incredibly generous samples of this and so many other teas! I cannot wait to sink my fangs into the box :)

I started my day with this tea. I figured, as it’s not your typical breakfast blend, and it’s a Chinese instead of an Indian black, I’d be okay with it in the morning and drinking it without milk or sugar. I was more or less right. It got a bit heavy towards the end of the mug as it cooled, but I didn’t really have time to focus on steeping it perfectly.

Parameters: ~2tsp/12oz, 180 F, ~3min.

These are the notes I took in class:

Smell: Wheaty, with whiffs of dark chocolate, like the chocolate bread at the bakery I used to go to after ballet class. I never really liked that chocolate bread (I much preferred sticky buns!) but my sister got it fairly often.

Leaves: Long, dark and twisty, with streaks of gold running through the space.

Liquor: golden-brown, kind of a chestnut color.

Taste: There is a definite taste of salt here, something I’ve never really experienced in a tea before. It’s predominant at the beginning of the sip, but I didn’t always get it. It’s wheaty, as expected. Kind of dark and heavy. A little bit of astringency, especially as it cooled, but not a whole lot. There’s some sort of dark berry here too, maybe currant or raisin? It’s not a juicy, fruity tea, but there’s something there.

After visiting the dentist yesterday, I started bleaching my choppers last night. If I had known in advance that this process requires a temporary halt to tea drinking (two weeks! – yeah, right, like that is gonna happen!), I would have postponed the bleaching indefinitely. The rebel in me was not about to let the dentist’s sadistic demands prevent me from trying this Teavana tea. Necessi-tea is the mother of invention, so today’s tasting note comes to you while I suck this Nine Dragon Golden Needle tea through a straw.

I steeped this tea at 195 degrees for three minutes. A nice nutty aroma emerged while brewing. The color was a bright amber.

The flavor of this tea (even through a straw) is nutty and woodsy. The taste also has the underlying earthy characteristics that I’ve begun to recognize in other Chinese teas from the Yunnan Province. I haven’t encountered any bitterness. In addition, there is a slight sweet honey quality to the flavor.

I wouldn’t call this a strong blend. There is plenty of steady flavor, though, to never question its identity as a solid black tea.

This is an enjoyable black tea. I’m looking forward to experiencing it again. I know it will be even better without a plastic tube middle man between the cup and my lips.

NOTE (Addendum): This marks my 50th (golden?) Tasting Note since I joined Steepsters in August of 2011! I’m ready to celebrate! Break out the party tea! Pass me another straw!

Not a whole lot to say about this tea this morning. It’s my husband’s favorite and I brewed him a pitcher of it iced yesterday so this morning I’m just doing a third infusion on the leaves. Unsure if it will be too weak or strong as it is a later steep but has more leaves for the concentrate I made. Not getting very distinct notes of say honey or pepper but it has great body and a very nice mouthfeel. Will do a proper review with the first two infusions at a later point. Personally I prefer Black Dragon Pearls for its cocoa notes and Yuan Dynasty Golden Tips for honey, I think our Golden Monkey is over rated but would love to try others and more varieties of Yunnan and Fuijan blacks and introduce the husband to them as this is discontinued (but we have somewhere between one and a half to two pounds left). Mmm after letting it sit a bit to write, the honey has definitely come through but so has a bit of dryness so :shrug:

This tea was on clearance at Teavana and the only way I could buy it was half a pound already in a tin. I was really nervous about buying that much of it as I normally drink flavored teas. But all my family loves tea, so I was planning on sharing.

This tea is AMAZING!!

It’s very mellow for a black tea, and very smooth. It doesn’t kick you in the face like some black teas. It has a light, nutty flavor and if you inhale through your mouth after taking a sip, you taste the natural sweetness. I shared about a quarter of the tin with my family, but the rest is ALL MINE!!

I like the Nine Dragon Golden Needles Black from Teavana because it not a super black tea “punch to the face.” I was lucky to find my little teavana baggie while going though my moved foodstuffs and almost see this as a gift from god. It is amazing and i truly enjoy is. Amen.

It is nice and aromatic without being fruity or perfumesque. It’s light amber in color, and it is almost as thought its full of life. It has a sweet undertone of honey that truly makes for a wonderful taste and has almost no bitterness what-so-ever. It’s a perfect tea, well… all the time. I like my nine dragon with a little sugar and a couple drops of lemon juice. Makes for a nice relaxing tea in the evening and just enough caffeine to wake me up in the morning.

It is awesome that i found this tea and i’m glad to have a cup tonight. In the meantime… good night everyone.

This is the reason why i started drinking tea. This is just simple straight black tea. I do not know what else to say.

I have to admit, I was TERRIFIED to try this. I got into loose-leaf tea through blends, and all I remember of straight black tea is a little lipton bag steeped with waaaaaay too much sugar, that I muscled through at my grandmother’s kitchen table when I was little because I DESPERATELY wanted to be a big kid. So, I held off on trying it… In a fit of bravery, I grabbed the bag and opened it up.
My first impression- “Wow. Hay.” Seriously. All I could smell was hay, with an underlying sweetness. Brewed, it smells a bit like hay, and a bit like wheat bread. A bit intimidating for someone who tends to fruity or spicy teas. Still, I wasn’t going to waste the leaves, and took a sip. I am so glad I did. This tea tastes a bit like honey, maybe with a caramel-y note to it? (my palate is so not refined.) Granted, I did sweeten it with rock sugar, because I am still a bit of a sugar fiend and take everything with a bit of sweetener.

Steeped for 2 minutes and between 30-45 seconds at about 195F. As Stoo said before, this tea has a wonderful woodsy flavor. It is also more than usually astringent than what I am used to in a black tea, but this does not detract from its appeal at all. Perfect served black—with tea sweets on the side for a mellower impact.

Second steeping. Earthy, tobacco aroma. Very dark color, almost coffee colored. A hint of licorice and a sweet after taste. Hearty after lunch tea.

I bought this tea and could’nt finish it. Worst $12 I’ve ever spent. Smelled like dipping tobacoo and tasted like medicine.

not bad needed a stevia,

I’ll start out by saying I’m not generally a black tea drinker; its fine, but I prefer whites or oolongs. This, however, is one black I’ll happily continue to drink. It was a gift, and I would consider reordering once I run out…that’s saying a lot since I don’t usually drink black :) If you’re a black tea fan, this should be a hit. Its not super strong…not a breakfast tea, but a lunch tea I think. Try it!

Wow…all I can say is “Yum”.
This tea boasts a satisfyingly complex, yet consistent flavor profile. The first few sips are always mellow… a familiar black tea. From there, it grows more robust and earthy…all while somehow retaining those light undertones. I think the best thing about this tea is the sublimely sweet aftertaste, which always seems to bring cream and honey to mind. Seriously, it’s a real treat.

This tea is so good. I Love the sweet after taste it has.

The complexities of its flavor remind me of architecture – not sky-scraping towers but gothic cathedrals – The first few sips are a carving in the door, a stained glass window, arches that supporting a painted ceiling. Every subsequent sip just adds to the structure. By the end your mind’s eye can see the masterpiece from the inside – you understand the hidden nature of why these things

This tea is the first loose-leaf black tea that I’ve tried and since then have tasted dozens, and this one is still being re-stocked every time I almost run out. Delicious, chocolaty, malty, light yet full depending on the amount and time of brew beautiful cup.