Black Sunshine

Birthday tea #1

I was pretty excited to get this as a gift; considering it didn’t come with octopus tentacles in it I had no plan to purchase it; this is actually misleading, I’ve just never had this companies tea which made it hard to decide to commit to a whole tin or not.

I drank this for breakfast… though many will say:
Wait, no you didn’t because https://instagram.com/p/6Kc2apRYLZ/
But really, this was my breakfast :)

Yunnan’s black tea integrity shines in this blend and I find it quite enjoyable, even the bitterness to it.

Instead of reading something from me, you should go read the best review I have seen on a tea to date (which was on this tea) by Marzipan
https://tealover.net/2015/07/andrews-dunham-black-sunshine/

Yes, I bought a canister of this tea. How could I not?
I can’t ever miss a new A & D blend, no matter what!
Malt, Cedar, charred wood, slightly burnt toast, unsweetened dark chocolate
these are a few of my favorite things…
It’s almost smokey, but not quite.
I hear a lot of low instruments: Tuba, didg, bassoon, timpani, Bass, plus some woodblocks, clarinet, and a gong.

She felt the rumblings of the monster’s steps before she heard them. Knowing that time was growing short, she began the preparations. “Five minutes is a long steep,” she thought, “But I’m sure the Brew Masters know best.” She boiled the water and poured it over the leaves, watching as the liquid quickly swirled with darkness. She experienced a tiny shiver of excitement…or was it fear?

Read the whole story: https://tealover.net/2015/07/andrews-dunham-black-sunshine/

As usual, Bravo A&D, Bravo!

Tea is amazing, tin is amazing. Enough said (or written).

Upon opening the tin, the tea smells quite strong. There is a bold malty yunnan scent. It is very slightly sweet. There is a scent of roasted tea as well. There are a number of different sizes and colours of tea leaves which makes the tea look quite unique.

The tea liquor is quite dark.

The brewed tea offers hints of stone fruits, I am thinking plums and apricots. The tea is not as bold as I was waiting for, but it is still quite strong. I am getting the slightest hints of sweetness, I would have expected more based on the smell. There is a strong after taste that lingers for a LOOOOONNNGGG time. It is not a bad aftertaste though. It is quite dry but not bitter or astringent. There is a roasted flavour to the tea. It translates into a bit of charred taste in the after taste but it doesn’t last for long.

Overall, excellent tea. It is not my fav A&D blend but it is still damn fine :)

Edit: steep 2. Much more creamy flavour and texture to the tea. No roasted or charred flavour. Very easy end of sip. No aftertaste at all. It has lost quite a bit of its boldness for this steep which is a bit disappointing.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped five minutes.

Dry leaves are long and twisty, mostly dark with a golden one here and there.

Dark copper liquor.

Well, Damn Fine warned us this would be strong.

And it’s GLORIOUS. Lots of cedar and toast notes, and a rich, almost honey-like finish that announced ‘Yunnan’ in a deep voice. Not a subtle or a gentle tea. It’s not smoky, but it’s close to smoky. It’s got a faint peppery bite that I find in some Yunnans and really like. I’m gonna play with steep times, but I expect this will brew up intense regardless. I love this tea. But be warned: it’s strong.

This is not at all what I was expecting when I heard ‘blend of Yunnan teas’, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it! This is very woody, burnt woody. Like you took barely smoldering remains of a cedar wood campfire and added them to your tea. Not necessarily smoky like Lapsang, though. It tastes quite like Tao of Tea’s Vietnamese Wild Black or Wild Black from Titan Commodity (on Aliexpress). It’s delightfully strong even though I brewed it a full minute less than recommended. Deep but smooth. I think this is going to be a rainy day tea for me.
And honestly, even if I didn’t love it, I probably wouldn’t regret the purchase due to how well-designed the tin is. Highly recommend if you enjoy strong teas with heavy wood notes.