I woke up to awesome news, the Title Update 14 changelog has been released and it is going into cert testing, meaning we could have the update by the end of next week. This newest update has been months in the waiting and I have been stalking 4J Studios diligently, enjoying all the little snippets of info they posted on twitter. The Xbox 360 version is still pretty far behind the PC, but it is slowly catching up. In this update I think I am most excited about the carpet, Nether mobs wandering in through portals, and anvils.
Today’s tea is Jin Jun Mei by Yezi Tea, Jin Jun Mei, also known as Golden Eyebrows Tea , is a black (or red) tea from Fujian, China, and is fairly rare. Jin Jun Mei is one of those teas that make me immensely happy just from looking at the dry leaf. I am a sucker for the beautiful, fuzzy, golden leaves, they look like something from a fairy tale. The aroma of the dry leaves is sharply sweet and a bit fruity, specifically a bit muscatel, there are strong notes of cocoa, caramelized sugar, orchids, and oak wood. It is a rich and bright aroma that wafts from the leaves, and certainly quite sweet. I would say that the aroma is one of the more sweeter Chinese black teas that I have had the honor of sniffing.
And into the gaiwan it goes for a nice, short, steeping! The aroma of the wet (and no longer gold and fuzzy) leaves is not fruity and bright, but is all richness. The aroma evolved into an intense depth with strong notes of peanuts, cocoa, and a faint hint of oak wood. Even though the aroma is no longer fruity it does retain a bit of sweetness, but now it is more of a nutty sweetness. The poured off liquid is quite sweet, like cocoa and honey with a woody quality.
The first steeping is wonderfully sweet and rich, blending the taste of cocoa, honey, roasted peanuts, and a finish of oak wood. I feel I am not giving this tea the credit it deserves, it is one of those that when I sipped it I was lost in the delicious and incredible rich taste, if you would have asked me at the time I was sipping you probably would have just heard me contentedly sigh.
The second steeping, the aroma of the leaves and the liquid is much the same as the first but a bit stronger and richer. The same can be said for the taste, except it has an added smoothness from the mouthfeel, this steeping almost seems to coat the mouth in rich sweetness. The aftertaste on this steeping was a tiny bit metallic which seemed to knock me out of my tea fugue, not a bad thing. This is one of those teas that I could see myself becoming mildly addicted to, perfect for mornings and aftermeals, or just an afternoon pick-me-up. Or before bed, or with a book, or when crafting…really I could be content drinking this tea all day. It has this great quality of being both bold and flavorful while retaining a level of mellowness that does not overpower, it is a perfectly balanced tea.
For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/03/yezi-tea-jin-jun-mei-tea-review.html
Flavors: Caramel, Cocoa, Grapes, Honey, Nuts, Orchids
