Fengqing Dragon Pearl Black Tea

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Black Tea Leaves
Flavors
Jasmine, Chocolate, Leather, Toffee, Dark Chocolate, Wood, Berries, Cocoa, Dried Fruit, Honey, Malt, Strawberry, Sweet, Sweet Potatoes, Autumn Leaf Pile, Bread, Fruity, Mineral, Floral, Smoke, Raisins, Wet Wood, Wet wood, Brown Sugar, Molasses, Musty, Spices, Thick, Creamy, Milk Chocolate, Thin, Burnt Sugar, Earth, Toast, Smooth, Apricot, Earthy, Stonefruit, Wheat, Woody, Wet Earth
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Medium
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by SimplyJenW
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 24 oz / 708 ml

From Our Community

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313 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I used 4 “balls”. and eventho the product description says ‘slight chocolate’ I picked up a whole bunch of chocolate-malty-goodness in this! Incredible! I’m going to do another infusion after this...” Read full tasting note
    90
  • “After having Loaded Baked Potato Soup, I served Italian Cream Cake. I didn’t make it! A friend sent it to me and it came from Sam’s club and was delicious! The frosting tastes a lot like the...” Read full tasting note
  • “another tea from this morning. the world has distracted me today. :) However, i am looking forward to sipdown saturday! and sample sunday! woot woot!” Read full tasting note
    86
  • “I went on a casual date last night. The guy messaged me afterward, and this morning I sent the “hey-I’m-not-really-into-dating-right-now-but-thanks-for-meeting-me” reply. Which shouldn’t sound like...” Read full tasting note
    100

From Teavivre

Origin: Fengqing, Yunnan, China

Ingredients: The leaves come from wild tea trees

Taste: Taste sweet and smooth, with a slight flavor of chocolate

Brew: 3-4 pieces for 8oz of water. Brew at 212 ºF (100 ºC) for 1 to 2 minutes (exact time depends on your taste – a longer time will give the tea a stronger taste and color)

Health Benefits: Being a fully oxidised – or fermented – black tea, it does not have the same level of antioxidants that our White and Green teas have, however it is still a good source of these and so will also help reduce the risk of cancers and lessen the affects of aging. Black teas such as our Fengqing black also are considered to help prevent tooth decay and help lower your cholesterol levels.

About Teavivre View company

Company description not available.

313 Tasting Notes

83
863 tasting notes

Finally got around to getting my Teavivre order from the post office and this was the first tea that the boyfriend wanted to try. I think that the name, and the rolled leaves, had a huge part in his choice. :) Oh, and this is the 3rd round of tea samples from Angel – who I can’t thank enough for her generosity and the education I’m getting!

I really need to learn more about Chinese black teas. Luckily I got a ton of Barnes and Noble gift cards for Christmas so I ordered a few books, but mostly I’m confused about the tea names/places. Clearly I need to research more of Chinese geography to get a better understanding of a teas’ origins, so I’m going to try and make that a goal for all of my pure samples from now on.

Okay, so Fengqing is in western Yunnan, which is a southern province according to the maps. I’ll have to go back and specifically read any Yunnan tasting notes to compare, but what I get from this dry is a very chocolatey, malty smell. It definitely seems like more of a delicate black – what I mean is that it’s not quite as heavy or earthy as an Assam is, which the brewing parameters seem to confirm.

I went for 2 minutes on the steeping because I do like a strong tea, and that was enough time to give it a pretty honeyed brown liquor. I say honeyed specifically because I really think this had a sweet nectary note in the taste and texture. There was the chocolate also, which was more noticeable as the tea cooled. And whenever I get a malty note in the scent I get a chewy texture, so that was wonderful!

This is a solid tea- not super heavy but not as delicate/fussy as a Darjeeling, which are usually a little too light for my tastes. It is quite unassuming, but it grows on you so that when you get to the bottom of your cup you find yourself wanting more.

I’m on a self-imposed tea buying moratorium until February 24 (1.5 months from today, gah!) but once I get through it, and try all of these samples I’ll be making a huge TeaVivre order, I expect!

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

In case you didn’t read everyone’s notes on this tea… we’ve been drinking the Teavivre samples for a year or so in various stages.. the consensus has been that 4-5 pearls seem to give the best taste. (not sure how many you used)

JoonSusanna

Thanks Bonnie! I should have written that down – I used 4 per cup.

Bonnie

Good…when I read your review I remembered the old discussions on how much to use for the best results.

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84
95 tasting notes

Back to school, which also means back to tea because I have way more free time on my hands to brew and review. My housemate and I had a mini tea party with this one today. She loves black tea whereas I am picky so I figured that way I’d be able to give a more complete review.

This was my first black pearl tea so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but it was fun to watch steep! I decided it was a worthy tea to christen my cast iron pot (which didn’t make watching the unfurling all that easy in hindsight).

For a pure black, by my taste, it was good. I am usually turned off by the astringency of black tea, but this one was smooth and not at all bitter! To me it tastes like a combination of hay and chocolate, which sounds weird but tastes decent. I think that I may have let it steep for too long (3 minutes or so) and that could be where the earthy hay taste came from. Overall, for a black tea, I did enjoy it, but it won’t be a tea that I crave.

My housemate found it too earthy for her taste, compared to other dragon pearls that she’s tried.

Upon second steep, I have to up the rating! The second steep was much more sweet and chocolate-y and less earthy. I think I got the brewing time right this time!

Thank you to Angel at Teavivre for the latest round of samples! I cannot wait to try them all in the next few days!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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82
83 tasting notes

Thank you to Bonnie for this Sample

This was a very good tea for a “Black Tea” (slowly opening to the world of black teas ;) I think this tea would be of interest to “Black Tea” enthusiasts and Non-Enthusiasts, because of it’s very smooth, bright in character, “iced Tea Flavored” (reminded me Alot of strong iced tea;) , that became quite strong/more concentrated in flavor on it’s 2nd steeping !! :) This is a very well made tea I would’nt mind drinking again :)

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Good that you gave it a try since all black tea’s are not necessarily what you might think. Some are mellow, some smooth and some cocoa and interesting.

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95
290 tasting notes

Free sample from Teavivre

The pearls smelled malty and slightly chocolatey when I opened the packet. They were larger than other pearls I have had. I must say I rather liked the hefty chunk of them. So, out with the infuser mug, which I generally reserve for my jasmine pearls and gunpowder, but that is a practicality decision, not because it brews them best. I was not sure how many pearls to put in, so I plumped for five pearls. The mug is about 200ml.

As I poured the water over them, the maltiness of the aroma increased. Once steeped, I had to wait a bit, because it was really too hot to drink. I am not good at waiting! The first sip told me what I needed to know. This tea is malty with a smooth, thick underlying chocolateyness that is gorgeous. The liquor is reminiscent of dark chocolate too. The sweet aftertaste lingered at the back of my tongue for some time too. Lovely. In some respects, this tea was like drinking a mug of cocoa, but nicer.

In the end, I managed to get four steepings out of the leaf, but the real flavour only lasted for the first two. After that it was slightly chocolatey sweet water.

I generally struggle to find black teas that I really like (other than Darjeelings), but this one definitely hits the mark and will be making a reappearance in my cupboard soon.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

This is good. I think based on you liking this tea I’ll send you a sample of Laoshan Black from Verdant.

Roughage

Thank you.

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86
109 tasting notes

I have never tried this type of tea before so thanks to Teavivre for their generous free sample to review.

The dry leaves (pearls) are huge! While a Jasmine pearl is typically the size of a BB, these pearls are the size of a marble. They do have a sweet aroma of chocolate. I am glad I drink my tea in clear glass cups, because it was so nice to watch the balls unfurl to do their magic.

The pearls unfurled into chocolate brown leaves with a few mahogany brown leaves. The brewed leaf was kind of grainy in aroma-with a slight resemblance to the aroma of a brewed Autumn Harvest Laoshan Black. The liquor leans toward a reddish-orangish brown.

The flavor reminded me a lot of a Keemun-so smooth and chocolately. However, it does not have the smoky notes you often find in a Keemun. It’s very sweet. There is a grainy type note in the background-again similar to Autumnal Laoshan Black-but it’s very minor. I enjoyed this tea very much and look forward to drinking more of it.

1st steep I brewed with 5 pearls, boiling water, 2 minutes.
2nd steep I added a 6th pearl and brewed at 208 for 3 minutes

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec

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100
892 tasting notes

Backlog! I drank this while getting ready for my mother’s wedding and drank the second steep on the way. MMMmmmmm So good. Lovely dark chocolate and malty notes. Such a lovely anytime tea.

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73
110 tasting notes

4 pearls in 8 oz

Nice, smooth, mellow tea. Could be very enjoyable for times when I don’t want something with too specific of a character.

ETA: 2nd steep at same parameters was pretty good too!

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Anyanka

Some of my favorite teas are kind of middle of the road. For when I have a taste for not having a taste of something.

Doug F

Faint praise :)

Rachel J

Hahaha… I know, I’m getting spoiled by all the amazing teas that are so unique. This just has that “generic black tea” quality. :)

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83
618 tasting notes

I’ve got to drink more pearl teas. I just love how pretty they are and they seem more fun than other loose leaf teas. I can’t remember who sent this to me (I’m sorry for forgetting!) but thank you! The scent of this tea is very sharp and a bit brisk. I wasn’t expecting this kind of strength, but thought that I would smell something a bit more soft and sweet.

Sipping… this one is sweet and smooth. There is a prominent hay flavor which gives each sip an earthy note. I’m not tasting a whole lot of chocolate/cocoa, but that could very well be due to age — this tea has been in my collection for a while! Very pleased to have tried this tea, but there are some other black teas that I like a bit more.

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77
788 tasting notes

Steep Information:
Amount: 7 balls
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Tool:Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 1 minute 30 seconds
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: coco
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, coco, toasty
Flavor: toasty, sweet
Body: medium
Aftertaste: coco, toasty
Liquor: translucent dark orange brown

Resteep:
same as first

I enjoyed the nice toasty and coco notes!

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.teatra.de/2012/08/10/teavivre-loose-leaf-black-tea-fengqing-dragon-pearl-black-tea/

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 30 sec

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81
326 tasting notes

Tea sample provided by Teavivre for review

First steep had a chocolate smell to the liquor. Upon drinking it, I am reminded of other wonderful yunnan black teas I’ve tried. It is smooth, velvety, with a deep body and notes of chocolate, flowers, maltiness, and spices.

The second steep continued to strength in flavour and body. I also started to pick up on some caramel flavour and a “woody” quality to the familiar yunnan earthy body.

As I was moving onto sipping the third cup, I kept thinking about how strong the tea body tasted.

Fourth through sixth steeps  were great and only weakened subtly with each steep.

The first noticeably weak cup was the seventh. I kept steeping until the ninth just to see (taste) how long it could last. When I short steep this again, I will probably stop on the sixith steep.

This might be a bold statement, but I think this tea is a clear example of black tea done right. It’s smooth, velvety, has a strong body and is full of character.  It’s not the best resteeper, but still worth short steeping for an excellent six cups. Out of the five other Teavivre black teas I have tried this is my second favorite (first being the yunnan dian hong golden tips)

100ml gaiwan, 4 balls, 9 steeps (rinse, 30s, +15s each resteep)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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