This tea is quite different than the Chinese blacks I’ve been drinking lately. For one thing the spent leaves are huge, with the one I measured being 5.5cm long or around 2.25 inches. Secondly it’s flavour profile reminds me a little bit of a cross between a Indian and a Taiwanese( I haven’t had many of these though) assam. It has the thick rich texture of an Indian assam, replete with malt and biscuit, combined with the bright fruit and spice notes, of mint, nutmeg and cinnamon I’ve had more in the Taiwanese versions. Really interesting and nice flavour notes which were not exactly what I was expecting as the dry leaf smells mostly of chocolate and cinnamon.
The leaves themselves look exactly like the picture, dark, thick, glossy and twisted. I used around 1.5 tsp for 225ml and brewed at around 95*C.
50s brewed to a rich reddish brown
scent: red fruit, malt, cinnamon, nutmeg note, hint of biscuit, honey,
flavour: fruit ( a cherry, currant like note), honey, malt, slight floral note, hint of chocolate, cinnamon and nutmeg.
faintly astringent, rich makes a nice breakfast tea,
45s above notes with a slightly minty fruit note (reminds me of creeping snowberry (northern peat bog plant with white berries tasting of blueberry and mint)). It’s smoother with more cocoa and a stronger nutmeg note. Feels cooling.
60s spice, nutmeg, cinnamon fruit, cocoa, malt fruit and honey.
90s faint fruit malt, biscuit, hint of cocoa.
Next time I’d like to try a longer western style brew to see what notes come out.
This was a really interesting tea that I think would make a nice breakfast tea. Thanks again to Capital Tea for their generous opportunity to sample this tea. http://www.capitaltea.com/shop/product.php?productid=224&cat=6&page=1
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Hrm… I’ve never gotten much of anything when I steep anything for only 50 seconds. I’ve tried. I mostly get watery crap.
For me it really depends on the Assams, Ceylons, and Darjeelings I tend to brew for about 2.5-3.5 min, and generally get the level of flavour I want. I especially keep to this for most flavoured teas unless directed elsewise because I like the balance between the base flavour and the flavouring. For Chinese teas I find it varies. I have some teas that do need a longer steep to preform their best Ie my Xinyang Hong Cha, and others that I can steep for much less time. Generally I am steeping either Gonfu style or a teacup at a time so I may be using more leaf than if I were brewing a mug. I took the advice I read in the comments of someone’s tasting notes to try very short steepings for some very tippy blacks and that is now the only way I brew one of my Jinjunmei’s. I only brew it for 5s in a gonfu pot and then pour it off into a cup and it is perfectly caramel and desert like. I was really surprised. I then increase steeps by 5s each steep. I fond that longer steeps produced a flavour that was overwhelming and a little unpleasant for me. Things to take into consideration I am used to drinking a weaker tea and I rarely add anything to it. If you prefer milk or cream in your tea you probably would need a longer steep. As well I have bought some tea lately that retain flavour over multiple steeps. I’ve usually been able to resteep my assams 3-4times, but some of my Fujian blacks last for 7+ steeps. I’ve had some oolongs that are also overwhelming or even bitter if I steep the first steep over 30s and one of the one’s I have recommended a 10s first steep.
yyz I’ve seen you mentioning Capital Tea Ltd a couple of times today, and this tea was the one that was screaming my name on their web site. ugggg…… I ordered 100g of it and samples of 8 other teas. I think you get the blame/credit of this order ;))
I hope you enjoy them!
Dexter, you’re hopeless. :)
If it makes you feel better, I am in dire need of banning myself from Aliexpress. I probably have enough tea for over a year at this point.
nxtdoor But it makes me happy… :))
yyz – I’ve taken just a couple of quick looks at Aliexpress and quickly determined that if I don’t want my cupboard to hit 400 teas, it’s a place I should just avoid. The other one I have a self imposed ban on is Yunnan Sourcing.
my ONLY issue with capital tea ltd is that you can 100g or 10. I would really like 50g option.
Sil for most teas there smallest size is 20g but I agree 50g would be nice.
i just want to go tea shopping…so close to my goal lol
I know…. At this point I think that unless it’s some amazing deal or perhaps flavoured teas I shouldn’t even be online on black Friday weekend. Especially, with the amount of tea I am currently waiting on. Think of it this way that any tea you buy now just takes away from the pool available to buy on black Friday. On the other hand I find myself building orders and shutting them down before processing them.
Sticking my nose in – I just broke open, my order box. It’s beautiful – I’m really happy with the 20g samples – I think they are more than enough to try the teas – actually bigger than I would have expected for 20g. LOVE the red tissue against the black packages. This is really nice and professional, and it was quick. Ordered on the weekend, shipped Monday, I got a card in the mail yesterday.
Thanks yyz so far I’m really impressed – will see how the tea is.
Sil I’m going to send you a bunch of these for you to try.
and I got a 20g free sample – I didn’t notice it at first, it is in exactly the same pacaging as the ones I ordered.
Nice, I usually get my packages within 2 days ( I live in Mississauga). The first time I ordered from them they actually comped me a piece of my order as a free sample. I didn’t really notice until I was reviewing my bill. Their samples are really generous. What did they send you as a sample?
LOL it’s not something I would have ordered, but I guess that’s good to get me to try other things. It’s this Darjeeling.
http://www.capitaltea.com/shop/product.php?productid=206&cat=12&page=1
Funny, I have that one to try too!. I still have this one and a Ceylon to open. At least with 20g you can try it all sorts of ways to see if there’s away you can enjoy it. If it’s too astringent the first time, lower the temp.. I have one that is lemony and bright when brewed at boiling and tastes of almonds at lower temps. I hope you enjoy their teas!
I surprised at how much tea there is in the 20g sample. I agree that it’s enough to play with but not crazy amount if you don’t like it. Enough to share. Like I said – really happy. I’m sure I won’t love them all, but am hoping to love one or two. It’s also easy to order a bunch with most of the being 3-4.00.
True!
yay!
Hrm… I’ve never gotten much of anything when I steep anything for only 50 seconds. I’ve tried. I mostly get watery crap.
For me it really depends on the Assams, Ceylons, and Darjeelings I tend to brew for about 2.5-3.5 min, and generally get the level of flavour I want. I especially keep to this for most flavoured teas unless directed elsewise because I like the balance between the base flavour and the flavouring. For Chinese teas I find it varies. I have some teas that do need a longer steep to preform their best Ie my Xinyang Hong Cha, and others that I can steep for much less time. Generally I am steeping either Gonfu style or a teacup at a time so I may be using more leaf than if I were brewing a mug. I took the advice I read in the comments of someone’s tasting notes to try very short steepings for some very tippy blacks and that is now the only way I brew one of my Jinjunmei’s. I only brew it for 5s in a gonfu pot and then pour it off into a cup and it is perfectly caramel and desert like. I was really surprised. I then increase steeps by 5s each steep. I fond that longer steeps produced a flavour that was overwhelming and a little unpleasant for me. Things to take into consideration I am used to drinking a weaker tea and I rarely add anything to it. If you prefer milk or cream in your tea you probably would need a longer steep. As well I have bought some tea lately that retain flavour over multiple steeps. I’ve usually been able to resteep my assams 3-4times, but some of my Fujian blacks last for 7+ steeps. I’ve had some oolongs that are also overwhelming or even bitter if I steep the first steep over 30s and one of the one’s I have recommended a 10s first steep.
yyz I’ve seen you mentioning Capital Tea Ltd a couple of times today, and this tea was the one that was screaming my name on their web site. ugggg…… I ordered 100g of it and samples of 8 other teas. I think you get the blame/credit of this order ;))
I hope you enjoy them!
Dexter, you’re hopeless. :)
If it makes you feel better, I am in dire need of banning myself from Aliexpress. I probably have enough tea for over a year at this point.
nxtdoor But it makes me happy… :))
yyz – I’ve taken just a couple of quick looks at Aliexpress and quickly determined that if I don’t want my cupboard to hit 400 teas, it’s a place I should just avoid. The other one I have a self imposed ban on is Yunnan Sourcing.
my ONLY issue with capital tea ltd is that you can 100g or 10. I would really like 50g option.
Sil for most teas there smallest size is 20g but I agree 50g would be nice.
i just want to go tea shopping…so close to my goal lol
I know…. At this point I think that unless it’s some amazing deal or perhaps flavoured teas I shouldn’t even be online on black Friday weekend. Especially, with the amount of tea I am currently waiting on. Think of it this way that any tea you buy now just takes away from the pool available to buy on black Friday. On the other hand I find myself building orders and shutting them down before processing them.
Sticking my nose in – I just broke open, my order box. It’s beautiful – I’m really happy with the 20g samples – I think they are more than enough to try the teas – actually bigger than I would have expected for 20g. LOVE the red tissue against the black packages. This is really nice and professional, and it was quick. Ordered on the weekend, shipped Monday, I got a card in the mail yesterday.
Thanks yyz so far I’m really impressed – will see how the tea is.
Sil I’m going to send you a bunch of these for you to try.
and I got a 20g free sample – I didn’t notice it at first, it is in exactly the same pacaging as the ones I ordered.
Nice, I usually get my packages within 2 days ( I live in Mississauga). The first time I ordered from them they actually comped me a piece of my order as a free sample. I didn’t really notice until I was reviewing my bill. Their samples are really generous. What did they send you as a sample?
LOL it’s not something I would have ordered, but I guess that’s good to get me to try other things. It’s this Darjeeling.
http://www.capitaltea.com/shop/product.php?productid=206&cat=12&page=1
Funny, I have that one to try too!. I still have this one and a Ceylon to open. At least with 20g you can try it all sorts of ways to see if there’s away you can enjoy it. If it’s too astringent the first time, lower the temp.. I have one that is lemony and bright when brewed at boiling and tastes of almonds at lower temps. I hope you enjoy their teas!
I surprised at how much tea there is in the 20g sample. I agree that it’s enough to play with but not crazy amount if you don’t like it. Enough to share. Like I said – really happy. I’m sure I won’t love them all, but am hoping to love one or two. It’s also easy to order a bunch with most of the being 3-4.00.
True!
yay!