Wild Style Black Tea - Premium (2017)

This is my first ever tasting note. I am hoping to do this more frequently, but I have not quite learned what to look for in aroma, fragrance, color, and taste of real tea yet. I will say this tea was suggested to me by Philip @Old Ways Tea. He included a gaiwan with my purchase which was absolutely lovely of him.

The tea is delicious and I will probably come back to this tasting note when I have learned what to look for and experienced more teas.

A really nice, complex and light Wuyi black tea. Aromas and flavors of honey, peach, rose, sunflower, pomelo, lemon, malt, almond, leather and pine. Aftertaste of rose, sunflower and citrus turning into a long-lasting impression of peach butter spread on a Hawaiian sweet roll. Sparkling, clean minerality. Good mouthfeel with only a very slight astringency and some nice tongue-numbing. There was an interesting effect with my saliva… it was almost effervescent or hm, foamy/fluffy? It reminded me a little of eating some foaming, sour hard candy from my childhood. I think they were called Tearjerkers?

This 2017 Wild Style Black was very similar to the 2018 though more complex. I’d probably reach for this one over the 2018 but they’re both excellent teas.

(5g, 100mL gaiwan, 200F, flash rinse, 12 steeps)

Since I have been spending so much time lately posting reviews of teas I drank months ago, I wanted to take a few moments to post a review of a tea I drank much more recently. I finished a sample pouch of this tea last week. I loved the 2016 Premium Wild Style Black Tea, so making time for the 2017 production was a no-brainer. Though I did end up loving this tea, I did not enjoy it quite as much as the 2016 version. This, however, was still an excellent Wuyi black tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very quick rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of peach, honey, cinnamon, malt, baked bread, and blood orange. After the rinse, I picked up on aromas of roasted peanut, smoke, brown sugar, and dark chocolate. The first infusion saw the nose turn a bit spicier and more citrusy, though I also noted a subtle sweet potato scent and a stronger brown sugar aroma. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of baked bread, roasted peanut, malt, brown sugar, sweet potato, blood orange, and honey that were backed by impressions of cream and roasted almond. The following infusions saw cream, lemon zest, and roasted almond emerge on the nose. Impressions of peach and dark chocolate belatedly appeared in the mouth along with new notes of minerals, red apple, tangerine, violet, plum, and pear. There were some subtle cedar and smoke impressions too. The final infusions emphasized lingering mineral, malt, baked bread, cream, pear, and lemon zest notes that were chased by subtler impressions of tangerine, brown sugar, and roasted peanut.

This tea was just as lively, flavorful, and energizing as the previous year’s production, though it did not offer quite as much of the fruity sweetness I enjoyed so much in that tea. Arguably a slightly deeper and more complex tea, I have no doubt that fans of Wuyi black teas would enjoy it. Definitely consider giving this tea a try if you get the opportunity.

Frick, did I love this one…though frick, my reviews of Old Ways tea are gonna get a little generic, but they are all of good quality.

I was whipped with an intense leathery note, followed by some florals and minerals. This is what I expected out of a wild style wuyi tea-it had the mineral notes I like, and a little bit of cocoa hidden in the thick viscous malt, but it ended leading up from something robust to something very sweet, mildly citrusy, and a little spicy. It had a little bit of a rhaspberry sweet note, and having some spiciness like blackberry leaves. I did do this gong fu with the 30 second rule, and the second and third steep were the best, and then the later eighth brew was incredibly sweet and minerally.

I hate that I am giving a recreated memory of this tea, but I would certainly try it again to give it better treatment. It was a good purchase, and Old Ways tea had some of the best service I’ve had with a great presentation of its sampler. Then again, I am finding that I prefer WuYi blacks anyway-specifically, without the roast.