Pinwheel

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – January 2025 Tea #2 – Your newest tea

This was just delivered in a 52Teas order, so it is my very newest tea.  A part of me felt I needed to buy this one, as I MIGHT be the person who has asked Anne to reblend Frank’s Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qu Hao the most.  Probably definitely.  It was still in stock on the site after a few months, so I decided to order!   It might be my favorite of Frank’s blends.  Definitely top five.  So I was thrilled that Anne tried to recreate a similar blend!  The Qu Hao base used in the original blend is rare, impossible to find when it isn’t expensive, so I understand it won’t be the SAME blend.  But I also was very happy that Anne aimed to recreate it.  The base in this blend is Gu Zhang mixed with Assam and Yunnan.  Sounds good to me!  Though I am not sure I have ever actually had another Gu Zhang leaf before.  (A quick search of all the teas that I have rated in my Steepster lifetime tells me no, no Gu Zhang in my tea drinking history, at least directly in the name.) I’m wondering if Anne has ever used it before? So I have no idea how the Gu Zhang tastes on its own. But I was also thrilled that Anne still has the original recipe for the Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qu Hao… as sometimes I hear many of Frank’s recipes were lost.  So there was a chance the flavoring would be similar!  AND IT IS.  The base probably isn’t as deep as the Qu Hao, but the flavoring is spot on.  It’s like a silky smooth mix of chocolate/ marshmallow/ vanilla and kahlua.  You know… exactly what the ingredients contain… minus the kahlua.  But wow, the flavors really meld together so well and very balanced.  (One of my favorite combinations of flavors is chocolate/marshmallow, so this is very much my thing.)  It’s amazing that the flavors are so spot on to the original blend.  It seems like a simple mix of flavors, but I have only ever noticed this exact flavoring with Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qu Hao before.  The third steep (milking the leaves for all I can) is quite good too — smooth, never harsh.  In a mystery taste test, I would definitely compare the two blends. So… mission successful!  I was so blinded by the lack of Qu Hao in the tea world, that I didn’t realize something similar could be recreated, especially by someone with Anne’s talents!  Thank you!  Very glad you put this together! 
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 23 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 10 minute steep

I crafted this tea to try to be an improvised version of Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qu Hao from Frank’s era because trying to source the Qu Hao at a price and/or minimum purchase within my budget was proving an impossible task for me. Frank’s source for the tea no longer carries it, and one of my sources was able to locate it for me but I would have had to purchase so much of the tea that I wouldn’t have been able to store all that tea, much less sell all of it at a price that would have even allowed me to break even. So, reblending it is not going to happen, at least not for the foreseeable future.

so, instead, I decided to try to improvise and create something similar, without being exactly that tea. The blend of teas I used for this blend is one of my favorites: Gu Zhang – which has a natural chocolate-y tone to it, then I added a small amount of Yunnan & Assam to it to help round out the flavor just a bit. I like the base, it is really rich & flavorful.

It’s been AGES since I last had the Black Silk Milk Chocolate blend from Frank, but, I think this tea hits the mark. It’s chocolate-y in a way that reminds me of chocolate milk when it’s chilled & lightly sweetened, but when it’s hot as I’m drinking it right now, it tastes a lot more like Pinwheel cookies, hence the name. (I hope those that make the cookies will not notice little old me and want to seek legal action, I just like the name, really.)

Anyway, I really love how this one turned out!