73 Tasting Notes

This is my second time trying out my sample of this black tea from Taiwan Tea Crafts. I don’t recall having a particularly strong impression from the last time I tried it, though I haven’t been drinking a ton of black tea.

My general impression of this is that it’s not unlike many other Asian black teas I’ve tried thus far, though it trades a little bit of the malty, chocolate notes for lighter, fruitier ones.

Brewing at just under boiling, the main character is mostly it’s mid-focused body and malty taste, which carries on into the aftertaste and maybe hints at a fruitiness in the high notes.

Continuing my brew adventure, the flavor of this tea generally seems to even out into something very smooth, sweet, and cozy. Most of it’s impression is focused around a mellow, mouth-coating sweetness, and a smooth aftertaste, but nothing particularly interesting in terms of higher notes. I can’t say I’m an authority on black tea, but while an enjoyable tea, it’s definitely not one I’m too keen on focusing on and I’ll be enjoying it as an aide to my studying.

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Mmm, buckwheat. It looks like these little guys would be at home in a genmaicha. I can hardly resist chomping on a couple of these while I wait for my water to heat up! Crunchy!

I’ve never tried a tea of this type before. The smell as I brew it reminds me of cornbread or some kind of baked good. As others have mentioned, the flavor is oaty and bready, though not bitter. It’s kind of sweet, actually!

I don’t expect this to be a particular surprise or a wow, just a smooth, mellow, bready drink without caffeine. Good to maybe relax to, but not for focused drinking.

Flavors: Bread, Oats

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 7 g 7 OZ / 220 ML

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From Andrew’s 2016 Sheng Olympiad. This is the first of the Bang Dong samples I’ve tried (maybe in the wrong order!) but I figured I had to start somewhere.

The initial smell is strong fruit and apricot to me, though my unfamiliarity with sheng generally means that this is a common note for me. The first couple steeps brew out with a very present fruit note that lingers in the aftertaste, with a light bitterness and astringency that plays in the mid notes but is not overpowering and makes things interesting.

Later steeps I find get more bitter and astringent, leaving my mouth feeling dry for up to a minute afterward. The apricot taste tends to subside, or is either hiding behind the bitterness. It’s not altogether unpleasant, though—it’s not a “sharp” bitterness, but sort of a “smooth” bitterness. One that I can keep drinking as I study or work, but maybe not one that I’d want to focus on altogether.

I’ll definitely be trying the younger Bang Dong samples soon to see if I can tell the difference!

Preparation
7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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73

Received from the 2016 Black Friday sampler box. Very cute and very pretty, but as the tea opens up, there are many broken leaves. There is the hinting of an apricot sweetness, but a heavy and somewhat bitter body and aftertaste tends to mask it. It is quite astringent and unfortunately, not quite my cup of tea :)

Flavors: Apricot, Bitter

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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