Francesco Vezzola Send Message

I was positively surprised to taste this tea and I wasn’t expecting its strong full-bodied taste. The color of its liquor is a beautiful copper, reminding me some expensive whiskey. First thing that you’ll notice once you brew it is the clear and strong scent of roses that the leaves emanate. The smell persisted on the lid of the my gaiwan making me think about rose wood. Even if doesn’t taste woody at all the sensation of a warm wooden room is present in my mind due to the soft but persistent flavor of it’s liquor. The taste profile remain more or less the same but, maybe for a my mistake of brewing, it drop drastically of consistence after 3-4 brews and it reveals a slightly metallic flavor. Beside this it remains a very good tea perfect to give sense to a boring afternoon.

Very nice surprise from Grand Tea. This black tea was supposed to be a inferior quality from the classic ones of the Yunnan province but it hit me hard with his fantastic flavor!
Is basically pure liquid chocolate, a dark one, delicate black chocolate. I tries to get the most out of it and during a gong fu brewing, forcing the second infusion I could get among the cacao also a clear note of licorice. If I should find a defect, this tea is lacking a bit of complexity but surely is a lovely treat to yourself when you need something good!

I gave it two chances to this tea, and I am happy to have done so!
First time I brewed it gong fu style with a gaiwan of 130ml, but I don’t know, probably because I’m still not an expert of this style of brewing, but it seemed to me to flat and “simple”. Beautiful green color, strong taste of chesnut since the first infusion, but a weird “thermal” flavor was always persistent. Not bad but I was not so enthusiastic. Very nice green leaves with white dots at the edges once they are open.
Second time I tried brewing it in a tall glass, and well, it changed. Still this good taste of chesnut was persistent, but the tea revelead his more fresh taste leaving a pleasant sensation in the mouth. It has never been astringent.

I brewed in a tall glass to see when the needles stay vertical and than pouring the tea in my pot.

Interesting greyish – light dove foggy color in the cup

I was surprised of the taste, very velvety in the mouth and a soft sensation. Initial scent of peach but mostly a round feeling of butter and cream all the time, cup after cup. It’s surely a pleasant tea for the evening but I have the feeling that I need something a bit more structured for my taste. Beside this I can’t say anything bad for this tea. Very good.

Finally my sample box from Grand Tea arrived, actually it was very fast considering was coming from Hong Kong. First tea that I tried is this Chenpi Pu-erh. I have to say that is my first experience with Pu-erh so I can’t really do some comparisons neither give a vote, but I can definitely say what I felt. The tea comes in a little dried tangerine and the smell is very interesting: delicate but consistent. As recommended I brewed it with a gaiwan and I rinsed it twice. Dark color, very deep copper – brownish. While tasting of course you’ll feel a bit of tangerine but not so much as you could imagine. Surprisingly I felt a distinct note of rose. I did few infusion and the rose was always there. Nice aftertaste: this particular sensation that the mouth feels when a citrus zest is eaten.
I don’t know if this is my cup of tea :-9 but surely interesting.