Yu Lu Yan Cha Black

This is rather malty, with a hint of vegetal. Is that a word? Steepster doesn’t think so. :P A little bit of smoke or toasties. Smells fantastic. I steeped it for forever, so it’s really heavy, but not in a terrible way. That’s kind of my go-to-tea-tasting-experience when I’m stove up from the freezer. :)

Yummy yum yum.

But seriously, who tasted cannabis in this?!

Ordered a sample with one of my last orders. Had a gongfu session with a ceramic gaiwan. No rinse. Steeping times: 3, 5, 8, 12, 15, 25, 35, 45, 60, 90, 120.

This tea, no matter what, is quite aromatic. The dry leaf smells of brownies with a hint of sweet potato, the leaf after the first infusion somewhat of citrus, the wet leaf of barbecued red meat (which later became purely sweet potatoes), and the liquor of rich hot cocoa.

The liquor is golden, clear (not considering the fuzzies), and full-bodied. Beautiful to look at in my cup, which is the exact same one in the picture on the website. The first several infusions were creamy and tasted very chocolate-like. After that, the flavor switched gears. I could only discern one strong note of sweet potatoes, which remained until the end of the session. Also, the texture smoothed out. The last couple infusions were a bit malty. After swallowing every single cup, the aftertaste lingered for nearly fifteen minutes. I drank this throughout the day. Energizing in the morning, but a good comfort on a cold and sunny October day.

I’m not a sweet-potato-in-my-Chinese-black-tea person (as in it’s not my thing to buy), but this was delicious. The leaf – at least this particular harvest – is good quality.

By Yavanna, this smells good. There is a malty chocolate scent at first, then I get more yams. The flavour is pastry flavour, along with more sweet cocoa notes. Goes great with my fantasy novels, and my Japanese historical fiction.

I’m kind of at that point where I’ve had so much tea, and logged none of it, and now getting back into the swing of things feels overwhelming. So, I’m just going to go ahead and log the tea that’s sitting in my gaiwan right now. That’s not so hard, right? Right.

Oh hey, I picked up a cheap variable temp kettle from Superstore while I was in Winnipeg 3 weeks ago. And then I managed to locate an extension cord that allows me to keep the kettle on my kitchen table and still plug it in. Then I gathered my gaiwan, cha hai, steeping basket (I use it as a filter), and a little tiny cup. Put them all next to the kettle. Set myself up with my laptop at the table as usual for when I’m working from home. Ta da! Everything I need to make tea is right there. So basically what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been making All The Tea in my gaiwan for the past week. :) And so far I haven’t managed to dump any tea onto my laptop, so I’m definitely calling that a win.

I think I probably tried this one western style before, and couldn’t make up my mind about it. I’ll probably be making it in the gaiwan in the future, because it was pretty great this way! It’s definitely sweet all the way through many steepings. There was a prominent roasted-grain note early on, that gradually faded. I get the cocoa note, but I don’t find this tea to be overwhelmingly chocolatey, it’s more of a malty-grainy-cocoa blend, like Ovaltine (which I haven’t had in a million years, so I could be just imagining the comparison). Several times I smelled the empty cup just after sipping and got a really strong cinnamon note, which was interesting, because I didn’t get it nearly as strongly in the flavour. There definitely was a baked goods, desserty feel to this tea throughout. Tasty!

One sip and I know this is a Verdant black.

When I first started out on Steepster, it seemed that Verdant’s Laoshan Black was a darling of the crowd….so I ordered it based on the praises of others. There was a note within the Laoshan Black that I struggled with. It hit my senses…well….it was just like standing next to a pot smoking crowd at a concert. I’ve been to loads of concert….boatloads. Arena rock in the late 70’s, Punk in the early 80’s, and everything in-between since then. Definitely pot.

So, here I am with a cup of Yu Lu Yan Cha Black and guess what note is the first to rise up and clock me in the schnoz? Yep, pot. Except that I’ve learned in the last year that some folks identify this hashish-y note as rye, which I think interesting, because if I focus on it in my head, I CAN see the similarities between the 2 notes! I once had a friend who came over from Ireland who thought that root beer and wintergreen were interchangeable…..I’d never thought about it, but now whether I’m having an A&W or a LifeSaver, I am reminded how similar they are once I focused on their similarities.

Sorry, back to the review. Pot/rye. It is what I feel is the quintessential note of Verdant Blacks, and it is at the forefront of this tea for me again. The cup holds lots of grain notes, a toasty deep grain that compliments the rye/pot note nicely. Joining the grain are a sweet potato and sweet earth note that anchor that toasty deep grain nicely. Top notes in this tea are a weensy bit of smoky floral…but just a touch….

As this cup cools, I’m finding myself rather liking this…rather liking this more than Laoshan Black, which is quite a complement, as from what I read this tea was a “hail mary” pass made in an attempt to save a neighbor’s tea crop. It is a luxe and flavorful cup of Verdant that carries with it more subtleties than Laoshan Black but as beautiful of a flavor profile.

A big thank you to TeaTiff for sharing!

Backlog:

I love the aroma of this tea. Sweet and chocolate-y! Completely enticing!

A tea of chocolate-y bliss. This is lovely. Sweet, malty, and I love how the malt notes add a hint of caramel-esque flavor to the cup … the chocolate plus caramel-like flavors are heaven. I also taste notes of sweet potato and a hint of cream (almost buttery), and a touch of vanilla.

As the tea cools, I notice some citrus notes toward the tail.

A wonderful tea! Here’s my full-length article: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/01/15/yu-lu-yan-cha-black-tea-from-verdant-tea/

This tea has a buttery chocolate aroma. It tastes buttery sweet with flavors of chocolate and malt. It is similar to Verdant’s Laoshan Black but not as good. I might have liked this tea more if I had not just tried Laoshan Black to compare the two.

This sample came from scribbles! I’m very happy to try these Verdant blacks teas, especially since they tend to go out of stock so easily. The leaves of this one are very long and thin, and somewhat curly. They’re almost all black, with just a few spots of gold. At first smell, this tea seems Fujian to me. It has that savory toasted grain and dill seed aroma, but it also has a sweet apricot preserve scent which is interesting. Smells like Fujian and Yunnan had a baby! :P I steeped about 1.5 teaspoons of leaf for 3 minutes at 200 degrees.

Once it’s brewed, this tea definitely smells Fujian to me. The aroma is thick with roasted grain and is quite savory with that dill scent. The taste is much the same. There’s a thickness to the flavor and texture, and it’s chiefly deep roasted grains and rye bread. There’s also that sprinkling of dill over the top. Interestingly enough, I get a light and pure sweet flavor that reminds me of honeysuckle nectar – clear, sweet, and very lightly floral. Yum! :)

Got this tea as a sample in the Verdant order I placed a while ago.
Was hit by a wave of chocolate when I opened the bag. That must be a good sign, right? :P

Well definitely is! Cocoa and chocolate all the way with this tea! Another enjoyable cup tonight. Mann I’ve been on a black tea kick all day it feels like. Good tea day! :D