I was reminded that I had purchased this tea and never tried it when I saw a note from amandastory516. I’ve enjoyed all the teas I’ve had from Andrews & Dunham, so I’m not sure why this one got left out in the cold! Poor little thing.
It looks to be a mix of darker, smaller leaf and larger, golden-tipped Yunnan teas. Dry scent is very earthy. I saw the recommendation to steep in boiling water for 5 minutes and promptly ignored it for my own preferred parameters, because I’m arrogant like that. :P Maybe I’ll try their parameters in the future, just to compare.
I find this tea to be pleasant enough, but unremarkable. And really, in my experience with A&D, they do generally make very reliable, daily-drinking sort of teas. But in this tea’s case, I think it has a slight disadvantage, as I have tried many Yunnan teas in the past.
The dominant note here is a very mineral, earthy flavor, with a hint of smokiness behind it. I get a bit of wood and tobacco as well, which are nice complements to the main flavor. There’s perhaps a hint of dried fruit, like raisin or date, in the aftertaste.
I tend to love bready and sweet potato-y Yunnan teas, and I’m not really getting either of those notes here. For darker Chinese blacks, I prefer Fujian varieties. So this one just misses the mark for me a little as it’s fairly one-note without a ton of depth to it.
Ah well, it’s not bad! Just also not great in my opinion, especially compared to other Yunnan teas I enjoy.
Flavors: Dried Fruit, Earth, Mineral, Raisins, Smoke, Tobacco, Wood
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My gosh, I forgot about this company since I’d been mostly absent from Steepster for a while. There was one from these guys that was quite popular a few years ago.
I remember seeing Caravan, Red-tailed Hawk, and Tiger Assam rather often a few years back.
You’re not arrogant to know the steeping parameters you like! I can’t imagine any black tea tasting decent steeped for 5 minutes at boiling.
@tea-sipper – I think a Chinese black tea like this one would be fine, I just can’t imagine it would be better?
My gosh, I forgot about this company since I’d been mostly absent from Steepster for a while. There was one from these guys that was quite popular a few years ago.
I remember seeing Caravan, Red-tailed Hawk, and Tiger Assam rather often a few years back.
You’re not arrogant to know the steeping parameters you like! I can’t imagine any black tea tasting decent steeped for 5 minutes at boiling.
@tea-sipper – I think a Chinese black tea like this one would be fine, I just can’t imagine it would be better?