Young Mountain Tea

Simultaneous first tasting note and a sipdown!
This tea came in a small amount in a beautiful tin, so I must have gotten this with Young Mountain Tea kickstarter waaay back in 2016 lol. Found it in the bottom of my stash and brought it to work to replace my daily black tea.

The leaves are absolutely gorgeous. Long, thinly rolled, smooth needles, with a few silver tips floating here and there. I split the small amount (probably 5g) into my all purpose work kyusu, spent some time with the leaves before finishing up the sample after the first half of the leaves were spent. The tea was so delicious, but I’d rather move on to another equally wonderful tea and keep the ball rolling than to hoard 2.5g lol.

The brew is a warm golden honey, smooth and thick in body. I get classic dark cherry notes and raisin, with only small hint of astringency at the tail end. It’s very clear that this tea was made with skill and love. Gotta love black tea for keeping it’s profile locked away until you’re ready to drink it. I’m adding this to my re-order list for sure.

I thought I only had a single Nepali tea left (an old Silver Needle), but then as I went through the samplers I got from the “Support PDX Tea Fest” box this year, I found a sample of this Nepali green, which I decided to brew up as an afternoon energy boost after exhausting myself all morning with house cleaning.

The brewed tea has that beany aroma I associate with Bi Luo Chun greens, as well as a very fresh garden peas vegetal aroma. I taste both in the brewed tea; it has a very vegetal umami quality. The manufacturer’s notes claim it is citrusy, but that isn’t really coming out for me in the flavor; I do, however, notice a subtle citrus note left in the aftertaste on my tongue. Lots of fresh garden vegetable vibes.

I’ve had this for three years….damn I still have over an oz left. I really wanted to like this one, but I was not in love and I actually didn’t like it. Young Mountain has some amazing teas, and this is the kind of tea that I usually like, but similar to my blacks, it’s too malty for me. The leaves are still gorgeous to look at after such a long time, and it still has a little bit of carob in the profile, but the flavor doesn’t stand out. Maybe I’m being too harsh? Maybe it’s too old?

Oolong owl, I blame you for this one. I was looking for some Himalayan based oolong, and got a little container of this from Young Mountain Tea. The dry cocoa aroma is very noticeable, though it reminded me a little bit of carob too. Char described this as one of the best teas from the Northwest Tea Festival, and that was saying something since she does not prefer this kind of tea.

Looking at it, it kinda looked like a maofeng black snail. The company describes it’s notes as “Rosewater, Dark Chocolate and Cherries”. I’ve only done it western so far, and it is very durable and smooth, but it reminds me more of a black tea than an oolong, and it is not as resteepable as others. I do REALLY like this one, but it is pretty straightforward in taste for the price. It is more akin to an Oriental Beauty and other blacks, and the cocoa-cherry notes are the most dominant with some fall leafy vibes too. I was hoping for some pepper to give it some kick, but not, it’s super forgiving.

I’m not sure what to rate it yet. I need some time to think.

I was curious about this tea. I love oolongs, but it’s the soil that helps bring out specific oolong flavors when the tea is made. What type of tea would a different soil produce?

This tea doesn’t quite taste like oolong. It’s aroma is of smoked wood and earthy smells — not something I expect out of an oolong. There are hints of nuts & chocolate, but nothing very distinct. It has a medium mouthfeel, and taste surprisingly like a generic, but decent black tea.

This is a decent “run-out-of-the-door” tea, or a tea that might pair well with a slightly sweet cookie/biscuit, but nothing I would take time to rightful savor.

This is easily one of my favorite teas. I read the other reviews before writing mine, which is probably a no-no, but my tasting notes are a bit different, so take it for what it’s worth.

When drinking this tea, it reads to me of roasted nuts, malt, caramel with a wonderful clean finish. The tea has a medium-deep taste. Its aroma reminds me sweet nutty tobacco leaves of a really good cigar. I’ve done 2-3 infusions at slightly longer times and each time it’s wonderful.

I remember Todd’s reaction when he sampled this tea at the SF Tea Fest, so when I came across the Nepali Golden Black at the co-op, I bought a modest sample.

Sweet and smooth with a predominant honey aroma and taste and some underlying cocoa. There are also hints of graham and brown sugar in the aroma. Some returning sweetness presents.

Does well western with leaf amount as low as 2 grams and as high as 4 if you want a thicker, coating brew. With less leaf, I steep for the recommended 3.5 minutes and with more, 3 minutes. Good for a second, longer steep and a third if you like to push it.

Nepali Golden Black is a simple and easy-drinking yet satisfying tea. Good stuff and making me question whether I really have an aversion to honey flavors.

I tried a sample cup at the San Francisco International Tea Festival and had to buy some on the spot. I don’t collect a lot of black teas, mostly green. My favorite is houjicha. But this black tea is great.

It took me a few tries to get the amount of leaf just right. I may need to buy a tea scale. Now it tastes just like the sample they served. I get a smooth black tea flavor with strong honey notes and scents. It doesn’t taste bitter at all, but rich and full of light, whatever that means.

Nice tea; a bit sweeter than most, with a really beautiful red color, and a lot of pleasant body

A very flavorful whole leaf tea. Brisk with medium body. Pleasant aroma. I really like this tea! Looking forward to ordering this tea again.

An excellent white! This white tea has an excellent thick body and sweet notes of green grape skin, linen, and lilac. Final steepings I got must, floral, pepper with a bit of dryness, likely from my aggressive steeping method. I got 6 resteeps, which is pretty good for a young white.

The fragrance on this tea is excellent, if you love oolong you will enjoy this white.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/kumaon-white-young-mountain-tea-tea-review/

Today we are going to do something a little fun, a little bit of tea science! Instead of doing my usual ‘ok this is a Western tea, so I will have it Western Style, or it is from China so I will go for Gongfu style brewing’ I am going to take a tea and brew it all the ways!! This idea formed when talking to the proprietor of Young Mountain Tea, who suggested I try the tea two ways, Western style and making a Sun Tea, and my brain gears got to turning and voila, this idea was formed!

Presenting Indi’s Gold, a whole leaf, high altitude, black tea from Nilgiri, grown by Indi Khanna a veteran tea grower. According to the description it is the strongest and most unique tea offered, so this sounds like my kind of tea! First off, the basics, how do the dry leaves smell? In a word(s) super rich! It blends roasted peanuts, yams, tobacco, cocoa, and slightly sweet cherries with a powerhouse punch of malt. This will be an excellent experiment me thinks, since it blends notes you would expect from something like a Dian Hong and an Assam.

First off I wanted to start with my gaiwan, brewing it up in there the aroma of the now very thoroughly soaked and steeped leaves is sharp and rich, with notes of cherry, cocoa, yams, and a touch of tobacco at the finish. The liquid has a blend of honey, sweet chocolate, and a surprisingly pleasant floral note, similar to a very distant gardenia.

The first steep is mild and intense all at once, with strong notes of yams, tobacco, cocoa, and cherry. It has a slightly tannic, drying quality, giving the tea a bite at the tip of the tongue, but it mellows out by the time it reaches the back of the throat. It is brisk and rich, and the flavor notes remind me a little of a Yancha, which is pretty fun. The second steep is much lighter, no briskness or tannic notes at all, just smooth cocoa, yams, and a finish of malty and cherry.

And now some leaves travel to my steeping apparatus for a western style brewing session! This time the aroma is super rich and malty, with a hint of cherry at the finish. The taste, wow, that is one killer smooth tea, no bitterness or tannic bite at all, just smooth rich malt with an addition of dried cherry, yams, and a finish of roasted peanuts and chocolate. Once it gets really cool, like bottom of the cup I have been sipping this for about an hour cool, it gets a bit of a metallic taste at the end, not that it bothered me at all, but still worth noting.

My next experiment took a bit more prep time than the others, good old cold steeping! I took my travel infuser and stuffed it with leaves and water and tossed it in the fridge for an overnight cold steeping. The taste was pretty mild, with notes of malt and roasted peanuts with a finish of chocolate. There was a bit of a metallic tinge to it, and it was super mild, so I was not a huge fan, but to be honest I am just not a big fan of chilled black teas anymore, I think I OD’d when I was in the South.

Lastly is the Sun Tea, I have not made Sun Tea in ages, I had to rummage around for a suitable jar and after giving it a massive scrubbing (I used to use it to store a different tea, back when I stored my tea in jars) tossed in some leaves and water and left it in the sunlight for a couple hours. I preferred this because it wasn’t super cold, just a little warmer than room temperature (my tolerance for cold things is really low) so I enjoyed drinking it a lot more than the cold steep. The taste, well, I am glad I was advised to give it a try, because it is super yummy! Rich notes of malt and roasted peanuts with a finish of honey, yam, and a lingering cherry note. There is a tiny, tiny hint of metallic, but it leans more towards mineral. I think my favorite methods were Sun Tea and Western Style, both seemed to really let this excellent tea shine, and I can see this one becoming a favorite!

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/04/young-mountain-tea-indis-gold-brewing.html