[Spring 2019 harvest]
Being familiar with Laoshan green teas, I finally decided to give a shot to a Laoshan black tea. The verdict is somewhat similar to my impression of the greens – the tea is complex, unique, and priced very well. However, that also means that I wouldn’t select it when just want a classic black tea.
Dry leaves exude an aromas of peach, raisins, plum, pine wood, and toasted bread. That is already intriguing, but the wet leaf smell is even more strange. It’s hard to pin down, but some associations I have written are: incense, dark chocolate, aluminium can, sea salt, meat, and canned peach.
The taste is bitter in a subtle rather than in-your-face way. It reminds me of walnut shells, lemon skin, cloves, burnt food, grapes, and sugar. There is also a light smokiness to it. Finally, the liquor mouthfeel is milky, viscous, and mouth-watering.
Flavors: Biting, Bitter, Burnt Food, Cloves, Dark Chocolate, Drying, Grapes, Lemon Zest, Marine, Meat, Metallic, Milk, Peach, Pine, Plum, Raisins, Salt, Sugar, Toast, Walnut, Wood
