I bought a 10 g sample of this tea back in February, when Taiwan was still shipping to Canada. (What a long time ago that seems!) I steeped 5 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 190F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.
The dry aroma is of malt, sassafras, raisins, and flowers. The first steep has notes of sassafras, cream, malt, cinnamon, raisins, jasmine, soy sauce, and menthol. The second steep is heavier on the raisins and malt and has a metallic undertone. The raisins become more like grapes in subsequent steeps, and the sassafras, malt, and cinnamon notes persist. The end of the session has malt, tannin, wood, and mineral notes.
I found this to be a fairly average Taiwanese Sun Moon Lake black tea, although the heavy cinnamon and menthol were pleasant. I’m glad I steeped it at 190F, as I imagine the astringency would be greater at higher temperatures. I’m sure I’ll be able to better pick apart the flavour notes in these types of teas when I’ve tried more of them.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Cream, Floral, Grapes, Jasmine, Licorice, Malt, Menthol, Metallic, Mineral, Raisins, Soy Sauce, Tannin, Wood
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Yum! I added this tea to my wishlist after reading your note. It sounds like a very “me” tea. :)
It’s pretty good. Having said that, it’s also quite similar to other Taiwanese Red Jade black teas, so if it’s not convenient to get it from TTC, you can probably find it elsewhere. What-Cha usually has nice Taiwanese black teas, and I’ve heard good things about Whispering Pines, though I haven’t tried them myself due to the high shipping rates to Canada.
I haven’t placed a major tea order in years (my stash was overwhelming me), but I’m almost to the point I’m ready to get some new-to-me teas. I’ll probably look at Whispering Pines since I’ve ordered from Brandon in the past with excellent results. Thanks for the great advice!
Yum! I added this tea to my wishlist after reading your note. It sounds like a very “me” tea. :)
It’s pretty good. Having said that, it’s also quite similar to other Taiwanese Red Jade black teas, so if it’s not convenient to get it from TTC, you can probably find it elsewhere. What-Cha usually has nice Taiwanese black teas, and I’ve heard good things about Whispering Pines, though I haven’t tried them myself due to the high shipping rates to Canada.
I haven’t placed a major tea order in years (my stash was overwhelming me), but I’m almost to the point I’m ready to get some new-to-me teas. I’ll probably look at Whispering Pines since I’ve ordered from Brandon in the past with excellent results. Thanks for the great advice!