Organic Yunnan Black

Clearing up samples. boiling, Brita filtered tap, 3.1g in 80 mL shibo, 20s steeps, 4×. 5th was a kill steep (4th was already weak) that just tasted like leaf water. Mainly malty notes, some honey, not sure I agree with grapes. Very classic hongcha profile. 1 and 2 had a decent Chinese rock/cube sugar like aftertaste you get with some hongcha. 3rd steep had some bitterness; nothing unbearable. Tiny bit of dryness, but forget which steeps. Wouldn’t repurchase, and I’m guessing they gave me a little extra in my sample, so the $/g of .143 for me isn’t quite accurate based on recently checking the site, but if that was the true price, you could do much worse. Had this late though, and the caffeine took a hit on me. I only slept for 2ish hours before waking back up, and going back to sleep some 4 hours later.

From SkySamurai a while ago, thanks very much!  I keep trying this, but the flavor always seems a bit muted for my ideal Yunnan, so I haven’t written a note.  I tried to overleaf this time.  It was still very light on the first steep, but I went for a long steep that second steep and it was much deeper and delicious with a sweet smoky note.  Sweet potato & squash.  The second steep: THAT’S the Yunnan profile I’m looking for.  It was a satisfying tea today.  Maybe the trick with this tea is to steep it only once, but very long.  I will try that next time. 

aw yisss. this was left forgotten in my last (?) sipsby box. I had to cancel that subscription bc I was in TOO DEEP and was drowning in samples. this was another box that was brought to work, where it has been sitting in a drawer that is never opened….which is a SHAME because this is all grape-y, malty, bread-y goodness. it is exactly what I needed on this slow day, when all I want/need is to go home and nap for five hours. or however long Percy will left me sleep before she starts yelling in my face for her treats.

SPEAKING OF PERCY, since it’s been quite a while since I’ve updated here….not that anyone is particularly interested in my cat..but, I’m gonna write about her anyway. Percy started having seizures a few months back, I casually mentioned this to my sister (who I rehomed Percy from) and she was like “yeah, she had seizures here too” and like, uh, that is something that MAYBE she should have mentioned before, because I was (obviously) very concerned about what in our home/environment might have caused the seizures. and it actually made me really upset, bc the original plan for Percy, before I took her in, was that she was going to be rehomed from my sister’s place to the FARM where my brother-in-law found her two years prior (the farm belongs to his family). before Christmas. when it’s COLD outside. two vet visits later and they think she has idiopathic epilepsy, which I would need to go out of town to confirm (no one in town has the ability to do the tests required). this is something that I want to do later this year, but for now I am keeping her unmedicated and am recording any seizures in a notebook so that I can tell her vet about them. I worry about the medication because it is potentially a life-long thing and she is so young, plus it could compromise her kidneys. she would have to go in every six months to do bloodwork….for the rest of her life, basically. she doesn’t have seizures everyday or anything. it’s about 3 a month, which is on the verge of where the vet would want her to be medicated. other than the seizures, which she seems unfazed by, Percy has started to come out of her shell quite a bit and has a hilarious personality. it’s so nice to see her being so sassy, even while still being pretty skittish. I’ve been contemplating getting her a cat-friend because I think it would improve her quality of life….so we’ll see about that!

This tea to me as well is responsible for waking the tea head in me. This is just a very comforting tea. I feel like it isn’t the most forgiving tea to brew. It will brew strong and dry, and I have found that brewing with a bit cooler water, helps bring out the malty, honey sweetness of the tea.

This tea was sent to me by Little Red Cup and is the reason I have come out of tea note retirement. I love Yunnan tea. Assam is great when I need to wake up. Ceylon I like with flavors and is my base of choice for Earl Grey. Yunnan is my warm cozy slow down tea.

The leaf looks just like the picture. It is long thin light twists of gold and browns. I pretty much expect the leaf to look this way. What I did not expect, in addition to the malty, honey, scents, is a fruitiness that resembles grapes and a neat pepperiness.

I Brewed this strong (on purpose) and the cup is a deep reddish hue as opposed to the amber mentioned by LRC. The taste matches the aroma perfectly. There is a touch of dryness that may disappear if you don’t make it so strong.

It is a dreary rainy day here, and this Yunnan black is providing just the comfort I need.