92
drank Red Cloak Grande 2011 by Tea Hong
4 tasting notes

I’ve got a cold right now, so may have to revisit this when trying again, but I thought this was very nice – I was pleasantly surprised. It’s so often that you find a vendor who makes exaggerated claims about a tea, and then the tea is not so good, but this one reminded of me (in a good way) of some other teas I’ve had and really enjoyed.

The aroma under the gaiwan lid was great, but the empty cup wasn’t quite as fragrant as I would have expected. But the tea was fairly durable, and the taste sweet and spicy, with just a bit of astringency and roughness on the front of the tongue. Looking forward to brewing this a couple of different ways, and definitely need to try the 2012 version, as well as get some more of the 2011.

The tea is described as traditional. I would consider the roast medium / balanced / sufficient (not over, not under), and I’d describe the oxidation as medium, but the roast is well done, and it’s been well roasted, so there’s no sharpness or unpleasant notes. Aftertaste is lasting, even with my nose partially out of commission, and has an interesting, complex flavor, and maybe some of the elusive ‘yan yun’.

Not sure whether this is qidan or some other varietal, and can’t vouch for whether it’s really from 100+ year old bushes, but I would believe that it’s old bush, at any rate. Regardless of what it is, my first impression is that this is quite a bit better than a lot of other yancha in its price range.

Preparation
6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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