Long story short:
I play and teach music for a living, and often my students give me gifts around the holidays. I have one student in particular who is from China, and his family knows I love tea. Last year they gave me a great green tea.
This year they gave me a black tea. I didn’t ask them about it, and the label and container has only Chinese Characters on it. They did tell me it was a black tea, so I know that much for certain. I’ll find out more about it later, but I wanted to get some words down first.
This tea came in small freeze dried bags, each one containing just under 2 tablespoons of loose leaves. I used two of these bags, so probably 3-4 tablespoons in total, in my 32 ounce Bodum Assam teapot.
I followed the loose brewing guidelines for black tea, rinsing the leaves before adding water that had just reached nearly a full boil and letting the steep for 2:30.
The result was a liqueur with a dark golden, see through color More of an Oolong than a black. It smells and tastes like a Tung Ting, with my limited knowledge of tea.
The aroma is what gave it away. It has that bite, that sweetness that is familiar in teas harvested from higher elevations. I’ve had a couple of Tung Tings from Red Blossom Tea Company, and this was very similar. Sweet, full bodied, hints of sugar and caramel.
I hope to find out more about this tea, I really like it!
-E
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If you open a discussion and post pictures of the packaging someone may be able to help you I’d it. As well sometimes the tea factories name is on the packaging in English which can help find a web page or if you’re really lucky there is a website listed. I’ve used all of these to help I’d types of teas and their makers before. Good luck. Often the gift teas are some sort of Lapsang Souchong ( the ones for the Chinese market are rarely that smokey and I have had one that tasted like a caramel chocolate oolong before. It was fabulous).
If you open a discussion and post pictures of the packaging someone may be able to help you I’d it. As well sometimes the tea factories name is on the packaging in English which can help find a web page or if you’re really lucky there is a website listed. I’ve used all of these to help I’d types of teas and their makers before. Good luck. Often the gift teas are some sort of Lapsang Souchong ( the ones for the Chinese market are rarely that smokey and I have had one that tasted like a caramel chocolate oolong before. It was fabulous).