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“Bai Lin Gong Fu black tea won the top prize of Three Star Gold. Only 91 products out of over 6,000 entries achieved three stars!!!! I received a nice sample size of this today and must say it is...” Read full tasting note
“Excited about the Canton Tea Co sampler which arrived over the weekend! I’ll start my Monday morning with what sounds like a good breakfast tea. The dry leaf is pretty, with orange highlights in...” Read full tasting note
“This is lovely. I brewed it in my gaiwan, using a less-than-boiling temperature (to avoid burning my fingers) and steeping for 1 minute for the first infusion. The result is perfection. The cup...” Read full tasting note
“On this, my day of birth, I bid a fond farewell to the last of my Canton Tea Bai Lin Gong Fu. It’s last vestiges lasted two exquisitely sweet and malty pints, and put added vigor into my morning...” Read full tasting note
One of the earliest (and best) Chinese black teas ever to be produced, Bai Lin Gong Fu is made from buds twisted into tight elegant gold-streaked curls. The liquor is reddish-brown and tastes naturally of caramel and cream so needs absolutely nothing added. This is a wonderful example of whole leaf black tea. It it is a glorious breakfast tea and so reasonably priced for a tea of this calibre, it can be an everyday affordable luxury.
Our Buyer’s notes
“The leaves of this tea have fine organgey yellow hairs, indicating the use of buds by the makers. Delightful, easy drinking black tea.”
Canton Tea Co is a London-based tea company trading in high grade, whole leaf Chinese tea. We have exclusive access to some of the best jasmine, white, green, oolong, black and authentic puerh teas available. In our first year, we scooped Six Golds at the 2009 Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards. Our Jasmine Pearls won the top three star gold award, endorsing it as the best available in the UK.
Before Brewing:
Awesome leafs. Very (very) thin leafs with red/golden streaks on them. And they got hair! A lot of red tiny hair. LIKE you already Bai Ling Gong fu! Smelling the tea reveals a unique aroma. What is it? It’s… seaweedy, assam smelling intense aroma.
After steeping:
Golden liquid, thick and smooth texture and – assam tasting tea with a twist. A little salty sour at first and juicy sweet at the end. Yum! Didn’t catch the caramel, but trying the resteep at a lower temp in hopes of finding it.
The twisted gold and black leaves are fairly short. The fragrance of the packaged leaves is slightly floral with a note of tomato.
Prepared, the tea is vegetal and incredibly mild. There’s the faintest impression of tannin bitterness but far less than most blacks.
This was a pleasant, simple black tea. However, it doesn’t really stand above teas that are more readily available in the US so I can’t say I’d go out of my way to purchase this one again.
First time i’m drinking a Bai Lin Gong Fu tea. The leaf reminds me a bit off yunnan and keemun leafs when dry with a nice full body smell to it.
I’m brewing a 3min infusion that gives a nice dark colored infusion. In taste i can compare it with the above its nice and strong and somewhat reminds me of the russian caravan blend that has yunnan and keemun leafs in it. Its not very malty but u can taste some malt and the creamy taste they mention in the discription is there to. Very nice black tea for the price i payed for it! Going to update this note or make a new one when i brew more off this!
This is a different tasting tea, for sure. I can actually see where TeaEqualsBliss is getting ravioli in the flavor. Ha! That’s a great catch. What it most reminded me of, though, is over-ripened fruit, like a banana or a peach that’s so soft and brown that it’s starting to let off an almost fermented sugar, sticky, rich sweet smell. Maybe with an edge of caramel, but more sour than caramel’s malty sweetness. I enjoyed it mostly because it’s exceedingly smooth rather than for the flavor which, while not unpleasant, wouldn’t draw me to seek this out again.
what a great tea! gorgeous leaves!! the dry leaf smell reminds me of very strong dried fruits, such as dates and raisins. maybe a little goji berry, too? I also get a whiff of sweet tobacco, like what my father used to smoke in his pipe when I was a girl. The taste is very interesting, slightly caramel-y, and i’m also getting goji berry, and date! this taste is really robust and complex, yet also smooth and a little earthy. I love it!
The initial scent I get from this tea reminds me of a darjeeling…light and a bit spicy. In fact, this almost seems light enough to be a bit reminiscent of some green teas that I have had. Steeping it for three minutes with just-boiled water, I’m greeted with creamy aromas from the golden-brown liquor. Despite being a little too eager to try it, and burning my lip on the first sip, once I wait and get in a (safe) first sip, I am delighted by the result. This tea is indeed creamy, just as the Canton Tea Co website describes. I am not so sure about the caramel notes, but I suppose I could see where one might pick up hints of those. To me, this tea has just the slightest bit of a malty aftertaste, creating an impeccable flavour.
A resteep of this tea brings about a much-subdued, yet still flavourful, brew. This is most definitely one of the best black teas I have ever tasted. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it 90/100. On top of that, I would definitely recommend this as one of the must-try teas for lovers of black teas.
This is a great tea. Smooth, caramel flavor, with a sweet aroma and a golden color. The leaves are high quality, and it shows in the resulting drink, which doesn’t need any sweeteners or other additions to make this one amazing cup.
Strong smell of caramel immediately on pouring so you know you’re in for a treat. A lovely, naturally sweet black tea with a good depth of flavour. Described as a breakfast tea on their web site but this would be good for an afternoon pick-up as well
