Spring 2012 "Yunnan Purple Beauty Black Tea" of Simao

WOW, this IS different. On the description they mention flowers and orange; to me it was a 2 hour session of ‘what the hell is is!? I’ve smelled you before!’ then it came to me, a mix of Sun Dried tomatoes and Plums, weird I know but incredible. The tea itself does have a bit of resemblance to orange blood orange peel but that sun dried tomato stays with me.
A good tea, a great difference from your normal black tea, glad I decided to give it a try.

I’ve had this tea for a while, but never got around to writing a review. It was purchased along with four other black teas from YS, many months ago. This one was always enjoyable prepared either western or eastern style. Not an amazing resteeper, but pretty flavourful.
This was my first “purple” tea experience. And overall it was a pleasant experience, but it definitely impressed my husband a lot more.

Here are some quick notes about my short steep session today:

First steep- Light, fruity (melon, grapes), refreshing. Acidic-sweetness at the back of my mouth.

Second steep- Fuzzy-fruit flavour all over my mouth, not a deep or heavy black tea body. Pretty light and delicate.

Third steep- The flavours have mellowed a bit, but much of the original notes are still present. For me, this is a nice cup to end on.

Steep parameters- 100ml teapot, 5g, 3 steeps (rinse, 30s, 40s, 1m)