Lin Hua Tai Tea Co.

I am definitely enjoying this tea – a friend gave it to me as a “welcome to the office!” gift. Lightly malted, I’m having trouble smelling individual notes right now because I’m in the midst of an annoying allergy attack (curse you ragweed) but there’s a very smooth taste in there that reminds me more of Assam than Ceylon. My friend recommended it with a tiny bit of milk, because it’s sweet enough on its own to not need sweetener, and she’s right. I might even try this one straight, which I do not usually do because I find there’s too much tannin in pure black tea. The aftertaste is also quite pleasant, and doesn’t leave my mouth feeling “sticky.”

The tea itself has large, intact leaves that are twisted into long skinny tendrils that unroll beautifully in my loose leaf pot. (This has the added joyous benefit of making them very easy to get OUT of the pot after I’m done brewing.) Second brew is only slightly less flavorful than the first, another added bonus. :-)

I brewed both the first and second steeps 4 minutes with the water going into the pot at a rolling boil. Definitely will try to keep this one on hand.

The package lists the URL to find it here: https://www.yuchi.org.tw/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=373

Initial aroma of leather and raspberries, which becomes more malty with later infusion. Honey yes. figgy. lots of dark colours
medium bodied and brisk with mild sweetness, but nothing as intensely sweet as say some yunnan blacks. earth and malt on palate
very pleasant

Individual leaves charcoal black, lightly rolled and wiry.
Tea is dominated by high-toned aromatics: cocoa, camphor, candied fruit and pine resin…almost “cooling”. Light malt and roasted barley at the lower end.

Palate flavours follow the aromas: roasted grains, cocoa and this candy minty coolness. Mild bitter dark chocolate astringency. Medium body with a long finish

Interesting tea that speaks of its origins.

Might be interesting to try blending this with a creamier black fom Yunnan for example.

First couple of steeps was with quite low temperature. guessing around 75C.
Very gentle floral, hazelnut wool aromas.
Hotter subsequent steeps brought out more buttery aromas and mild green veg

Palate is round and sweet with a medium+ finish

Yeah, they just call it black tea. The packaging is mostly in Chinese, so I can’t read it. Eventually I’ll get a friend to translate it and see if they can tell me the actual name of the tea. It tastes like a breakfast blend.

Regardless of what it is, I love this tea. It doesn’t get bitter no matter how long you steep it or how much leaf you’ve used — trust me, I’ve pushed it pretty far. I originally bought it for making milk tea because the lady at the shop told me it was really strong, but I’ve found it really mellow and smooth. Not sure exactly how to describe the aroma, but the taste is woody and sweet and a bit like caramel. This tea is super cheap, too, less than $5 for more than 4oz.