I recently found out that one of my friends E. is into tea. I didn’t know this about her and she didn’t know I was a TeaGeek either. She gave me two of these little rosettes to try out.
This was my first Yunnan tea and one of the only natural teas that I have ever had. I made it in my little red two-cup teapot and steeped it for about four minutes, leaving the water in the pot to steep some more.
The first cup was a tawny brown in color and didn’t smell like much. It smelled like tea to me. The first sip was good, but I wasn’t that impressed until I kept drinking. It became smooth and rich as I adjusted to the flavor. Another four-five minutes later I poured the second cup.
This cup was a deep brown and looked like a cup of coffee. I took a sip and immediately realized that it wasn’t bitter like I had feared. The cup here had been steeping for about 8-10 minutes. I think I understand what the word “malty” means now. It is what I imagine a malted milkshake l would taste like if you removed the chocolate, the sugar, and the milk. Which leaves everything that I love about malted milkshakes. I thought I tasted something that I registered as chocolate, but I wasn’t sure.
Not wanting to leave this cup of tea since the first two cups disappeared way too quickly for my liking, I decided to try to re-steep the urchin. I wasn’t sure on the amount but I knew I boiled enough water for two teapots full. I poured another half a teapot and steeped that for about six minutes. Wow! Here is the chocolate I thought I tasted before! I am impressed. I didn’t really understand how a tea could do that when it didn’t have any chocolate flavoring added to it. The maltiness was still there but not as present as it was in the first two cups.
Overall, I think this is a very good introduction of a Yunnan to the uninitiated. Of course, I am still newer at this, but I thought it tasted really good. I am stopping at three cups tonight because I am full! I still have one more rosette, but I am going to wait to have that until I get home for spring break so I can share it with my fiance.
I looked for this at the Teavana website to see how much it would normally be but I don’t think they have it anymore. I would like to see about saving up some money and picking up a tin from somewhere over spring break. Would anyone care to share any good Yunnans that they like that aren’t that stupidly expensive?
Yun Nan Dian Hong by Teavivre was great, and not expensive!