Your Personal Favorite Black
Sounds like I’m definitely going to have to try the dragon pearls and Verdant’s Laoshan Black. It sounds amazing looking at their website, and I’ve never had anything from Verdant before, so that will be exciting. Now if only the next 3 weeks will fly by so I have access to a credit card…
I always have such a hard time narrowing it down! I think for unflavored it would be Hong Ju Luo by The Puritea (though now they are closed I will have to find another source, booo) it is rich and smooth and tastes like a mixture of cocoa, honey, peanuts, and oak wood. Plus the leaves are beautiful!
For flavored tea my favorite would have to be Ahmad’s Cardamon black. I brew it really strong and then load it with cream and sugar, excellent breakfast tea. I love how it smells and tastes so much like Cardamon, sniffing it just makes me happy and reminds me of the Indian Market my mom and I went too back in PA, it helps ease the homesickness and missing of my mom when I drink it. Especially since she was the one who gave me the tea.
I have had Black Dragon Pearls and thought they were delicious and certainly recommend them.
I was thinking Hong Jing Luo too, it’s been on my mind a lot lately—shame thepuritea is gone now. :(
I could never choose just one, depends too much on season and fancy, but currently some definite contenders include Verdant’s Golden Fleece and Zhu Rong, thepuritea’s Hong Jing Luo, Capital Tea Ltd.‘s Borsapori Assam, and Mandala’s Morning Sun. And while I generally don’t care for Ceylons or most Kenyan tea, there’s exceptional examples there too like New Vithanakandes (been on a major bittersweet chocolate binge lately…which is also why I dig dragon pearls too!), Sinharaja, and Justea’s Kenyan Black. For blends, Butiki’s The Black Lotus and Harney’s Queen Catherine. Yay black tea!
Yunnan Golden Curls. Master Series. Adagio Teas
Anhui Keemun. Master Series. Adagio Teas
Anhui Keemun – really expensive though so I can’t afford to buy it very often.
My favorite is Teavana’s Golden Yunnan Pu-Erh, which isn’t a Pu-Erh at all. But I had a sample of A&D Tiger Assam, and I’m still thinking about it. I can’t call it a favorite though, until I have more or it.
Verdant – Laoshan Black, Golden Fleece
Teavivre – Bailin Gongfu, Fengqing Black Dragon Pearls, Tan Yang
In general, I prefer Fujian black teas and the occasional Yunnan. I like my black teas to have chocolatey/caramel/molasses/grain notes in them, which most of the above do in some context.
This is something that I was also looking for in a black tea. I don’t really know much about the differences between yunnan, assam, keemun, ceylon, or any other blacks besides the typical “assam is a breakfast tea, ceylon is primarily in earl grey”…like I don’t know much about the actual flavor or mouth-feel that they each offer. So thank you for your input about those!
I can’t call it my favorite, because there are others I’ve tried I like more, but for sheer drinkability and all around great tea character, my go to morning cuppa would have to be The Tea Spot’s Shagadelic English Breakfast. It’s a staple in my tea drawer.
That being said, my favorite so far early in my journey of black teas Premium Keemun Hao Ya from Teavivre. I was about to say their Yun Nan Dian Hong – Golden Tips, but I’ve had only one cup, so I can’t yet declare that a favorite without a repeat test.
Of course, with this thread my Wishlist on Steepster has grown significantly. And as a separate thought, I may have to create a spinoff thread for favorite English Breakfast blends.
I have to agree that it’s really helping me decide where I’m going to place my next order! I recommend Rishi’s Earl Grey if you haven’t tried that yet. So far, it’s my favorite. But I really like what Rishi is all about, so I may be a bit biased…but then again, I haven’t had a bad cup from them yet.
I had a bad experience with Earl Grey a while ago, and have been reluctant to try again. I may have to give Rishi’s Grey a try, get back on that horse.
I noticed that you can’t rush the Earl Grey…I had a cup I was trying to gulp down before running out the door to class (I had just made it 5min prior) and it tasted a bit bitter and way too hot. So I just dumped it in my travel mug and went to class. After about 20min in the thermos (still keeping it very hot), I noticed that the bitterness had completely gone away…I don’t know how to explain it or why, but it seemed like everything mellowed out and kind of settled down. It was great, but that’s the only time that’s every happened…every other time, the cup was delicious from the get-go.
The best black I’ve tasted comes from a small tea farm in Jhushan, Nantou County, Taiwan. The tea master there is a regular winner of some of the most competitive tea tasting comps in Taiwan. This black was like nothing I had come to expect of loose leaf tea. It had the most natural almost caramalized sweetness. You would think they coated the leaves in icing sugar or something. Hands down the best daily drinker I’ve tasted.
That sounds absolutely wonderful. Is it at all possible to purchase this tea?
Tea Pet yeah we are currently looking to source this tea now and have it on our site for sale in the next few months. Check out templeroadtea.com and subscribe to our newsletter for updates. Can’t wait to start selling this tea. One of my personal favorites.
enamored of Teavana’s Black Dragon Pearls!! they smell outrageous. like they’ve been dusted with cocoa! hard to believe it’s a straight tea, really. it tastes more of subtle honey, but still, there’s a detectable chocolate note!
because of my wonderful experience with Black Pearls, i would love to try the ones by Mandala. also, check out their GABA Black, it is described thus:
Honey and bakery or pastry flavors are abundant. The aroma can be reminiscent of a warmed, honey-drizzled bowl of “grape nuts”.
okay, that i have to experience for myself..
also- i run the risk of sounding like a plebeian here, but for flavored blacks i’d recommend Nutcracker Sweet by Celestial Seasonings. it tastes like buttery caramel. personally i find it amazing and crave it often. (certainly cheap and accessible!)
how long before i get booted off this site?
Right now I’m loving Hattiali Assams. Assams are probably my favourite tea type! Butiki has one or two, and I also have one from the Tea Centre in Courtenay. They’re nice and smooth, and don’t necessarily need milk/sugar. I also really like Zen Tea’s Phoenix Pearls. It’s a tea that can take a lot of mistreatment and stay sweet.
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