Alright, I have once again returned after a break that was longer than expected. School has been eating up an unbelievable amount of time. My internet access has also been spotty due to terrible weather, but here I am. This was yet another one of the black teas I finished while on my recent black tea kick, but unlike the others, I actually finished this one earlier in the month. The last of the What-Cha Jingmai teas I got around to trying, I found this tea to be rewarding, but I also found it to be perhaps the least appealing of the bunch. I associate floral sweetness with Jingmai teas, and this tea quite simply didn’t have it, instead presenting a range of fruity, malty, nutty, savory, woody, and herbal/spicy notes.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 15 additional 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, and 5 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves offered aromas of cedar, pine, raisin, fig, and honey. After the rinse, I found new aromas of roasted walnut, cream, and malt underscored by hints of cocoa. The first infusion brought out a somewhat stronger cocoa aroma as well as somewhat smoother, more balanced roasted walnut and cream aromas. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented very subtle notes of raisin, fig, malt, cocoa, roasted walnut, honey, pine, and cedar before a somewhat buttery presence emerged on the finish. Honey and raisin sweetness lingered in the mouth after the swallow. Subsequent infusions saw the nose quickly turn woodier, spicier, and more herbal, while something of a buttery presence also emerged. Stronger butter notes appeared alongside new flavors of black pepper, minerals, camphor, eucalyptus, caramel, and orange zest in the mouth. In addition to these new flavors, subtler impressions of toast, dried tobacco, smoke, and roasted chestnut also emerged. The final infusions presented lingering mineral, malt, roasted nut, orange zest, and cream notes balanced by subtler impressions of camphor, tobacco, caramel, honey, and raisin.
Most of the Jingmai black teas I had tried prior to this tea were notable for their floral, fruity sweetness, yet the roast that was applied to this tea decreased the sweetness and brought out a range of other flavors while eliminating any obvious floral characteristics entirely. A drier, subtler black tea than many of the other Yunnan black teas I have tried over the course of the past several years, this would be a great tea for someone who has perhaps grown tired of the typical Yunnan black tea profile. I, however, love the fruitier, sweeter Yunnan black teas, so this tea was not quite what I was expecting. Even though it did not offer everything I look for in teas of this type, it was still a very nice black tea and an excellent change of pace from the Yunnan black teas to which I am more accustomed.
Flavors: Black Pepper, Butter, Camphor, Caramel, Cedar, Chestnut, Eucalyptus, Fig, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Orange Zest, Pine, Raisins, Smoke, Toast, Tobacco, Walnut
