Lindsay said

mystery tea

Ok, so I got these two little packets of tea from a friend of mine, who got them from an ESL student of hers. The student had handwritten some instructions, which I don’t remember, except that I recall they suggested a brief rinse before steeping. Here’s a picture of the package:
http://i.imgur.com/YBZLbWj.jpg
Can anybody read what it says? :)

6 Replies
Lindsay said

Oh, the tea itself. I actually quite like it! It’s black loose leaf tea. The leaves are thin and twisted, maybe up to 1-2cm long for some of them, and the rest are smaller pieces. Dry, they smell a bit malty. Steeping, same thing but a lot stronger, maybe a bit of baked bread in there. The tea itself is orange-brown in colour, and surprisingly smooth and a bit sweet. The flavour is malty and a bit of cocoa. I used about 1.5tsp for 10oz of water, and probably could have used a bit more leaf. The second infusion is lighter and less interesting, but still quite drinkable.

Steepster, what am I drinking?? :)

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cookies said

I think it’s Zhen Shan Xiao Zhong

Lindsay said

Thanks! :)
I just googled for that and was super confused for a minute there (I know I’m not a tea expert, but I’m pretty sure I can identify a lapsang souchong, lol). But then I found this:
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/wuyimountainrockoolongs/2939-zheng-shan-xiao-zhong-of-wu-yi-fujian-black-tea-spring-2014.html
So maybe it’s something like that?

cookies said

Yes, those Lapsangs aren’t smoked and they taste like you described. Sweet with cocoa notes. The writing on the package seems to be quite stylized, but it looks very similar to other examples I found. Do the leaves look like this? http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Promotions-High-quality-Lapsang-bell-10-bags-of-organic-black-tea-Free-shipping-Black-tea-dollar/723612_2012116228.html

Lindsay said

Yeah, pretty similar. Here’s a picture of the leaves (dry and wet): http://i.imgur.com/8hxbPmb.jpg
And here’s a picture of the teeny tiny writing on the side of the package (maybe steeping instructions?): http://i.imgur.com/TAnuemv.jpg

cookies said

Someone who can read the label might know better, but it definitely looks like Zhen Shan to me. All of the ones I’ve seen seem to have the blackest leaves.

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