86

I didn’t like this tea at all when I first received it. It had an earthy, yam like profile which I don’t care for in black tea. So I put it away for a while and this afternoon, out of sheer boredom brewed up a gram in my 65ml mini kyusu. It seems to have benefited from the resting time because today it tasted like a very different tea. It’s less earthy, less musty than I remember and the yams have transformed into pumpkin pie. The texture in the mouth is pillowy soft with a lingering fig-like sweetness. The flavor profile reminds me a lot of Verdant’s Golden Fleece.

I gongfued this using boiling water for 30 seconds followed by 4 flash steeps. Subsequent steeps were kind of thin, so next time I’ll try increasing steep times. Flavor mostly remains constant between infusions and doesn’t evolve much.

Flavors: Fig, Nutmeg, Pumpkin, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 1 g 2 OZ / 65 ML

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My Rating Criteria:

95 to 100: Top shelf stuff. Loved this tea and highly recommend it

90 to 94: Excellent. Enjoyed this tea and would likely repurchase

80 to 89: Good but not great. I liked it though it may be lacking in some aspects. I’ll finish it but probably won’t buy again

70 to 79: Average at best. Not terrible but wouldn’t willingly drink again

60 to 69: Sub-par. Low quality tea, barely palatable

59 and below: Bleh

Fell into tea many years ago and for a long time my experience was limited to Japanese greens and flavored Teavana teas. My tea epiphany happened when I discovered jade oolongs. That was my gateway drug to the world of high quality tea and teaware.

For the most part, I drink straight tea but do appreciate a good flavored tea on occasion. I love fresh green and floral flavors and as such, green tea and Taiwanese oolongs will always have a place in my cupboard. After avoiding black tea forever, Chinese blacks have started to grow on me. I’m less enthusiastic about puerh though. I also enjoy white tea and tisanes but reach for them less frequently.

Other non-tea interests include: cooking, reading, nature, philosophy, MMA, traveling when I can, and of course putzing around on the interwebs.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/melucky

Location

around Chicago

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