Yunnan Gold Black Dragon Pearls

After reviewing this tea ages ago i got hold of a big bag 250 gram of these tea pearls from a sale on canton.

It took a while to get used again but now i’m sipping from this Yunnan tea on a lot of evenings while relaxing behind the tv. Its well worth the price and with only needing a couple of those tiny balls u get a whole lot of tea for your money!

In many ways, I prefer Yunnan black teas to Darjeelings and Ceylons. Powdery in a good way, they often have that slight bitterness that tames the fruity side of things. I will have to rebrew this more to get a good feel for the tea but off the bat, I am using 3 pearls to 200ml with a 3m steep. Seems low according to the reviews I’m reading here, but it gives me an idea of what a reasonable amount of these will make.

Unfurled the leaves are larger than I expected, with a fair amount of tipps in there, although they took a good 1.5" of stem with that tip too.

The tea has the aroma of dry cocoa powder with hints of vanilla, stone fruit, cherries, caramel 40 (where all my brewers at?!) It has a bit of a bite at the back of the palate, I would call it astringency but it is almost a sour sensation without a sour taste. The body, as I predicted, is relatively light for the amount of tea, but I suppose that may just be the score here. Has that powdery sensation that I love in Yunnans but less than some other more tippy Dian Hong I’ve had.

All in all, this is a pleasant tea, not the best Yunnan I’ve had, but I will have to keep learning these leaves and improve my brew of it. Next time, 5 pearls to 200ml and hopefully I don’t end up jumping off the walls from the caffeine.

CORRECTION:

2nd occasion to brew these, I went for 6 including a small one or two, in my tea french press, 250ml, 4 minutes, and this was wonderful. MORE is the key to getting your flavor our of this. It has everything I love about Tippy Yunnan/Dian Hong: Creamy, cacao bean, caramel, all without any tanniny bitterness. I got 3 steeps before it started to get watery and gave up. This is a great tea. I didn’t weigh the pearls the 2nd time around, but that would be my only qualm: you would go through them fast.

I’ve tried this tea using the recommended 1-2 pearls, but haven’t been impressed.. so I’ve made this morning’s cup with around 5-7. We’ll see if it makes a difference.

Right away, I can tell that the scent is much stronger and very sweet. Sipping… yep, definitely better with more pearls! This is smooth, sweet – hints of caramel, hay and wood. It’s actually a little chalky which I found to be the case with fewer pearls. I love how this has much more body and it’s so smooth! Yum.. would definitely buy these again, but not sure if the value is there since I have to add so many pearls to get the delicious cup I want.

This one has changed names a few times but this is the description of Black Pearls by Canton Tea and they have also been called Yunnan Gold Pearls.

Origin: Feng Qing Mountains; Lincang, China.
Dry Leaf: These pearls are large,,,the size of small gum balls. The pearls are black-brown and gold threads woven together to look like a little ball of yarn. Very cool looking. Smell like malty sweet black tea.
Method: Have played with these pearls a few times and definitely Gong Fu is the way to go over Western or any other method. Used a 3.38 oz porcelain ceramic pot with 2 pearls at 200F. I have tried this tea using 1 pearl and it was weak.
Double rinse 10"/10" (Pearls are very tightly rolled)
30"/30"/40"
Wet Leaf: Medium size leaves that have been twisted like a rope then rolled into the pearl shape. Woody scent.
Liquor: Golden and clear.
Flavor: Sort of starts out roasty and as it cools some vanilla comes out but it is not sweet. Further steepings bring out a cooked woody flavor. It is reminding me of the couple of Shou puerhs that I have tried and this is why I enjoy Sheng puerhs much better.
They worked so hard on rolling this tea that I respect it and it is beautiful to look at but it is really one note and hard to brew for me. It is very woody :(