China Yunnan Golden Tippy Black Tea

These half day retreat days are flying by. The week is almost over.

I am still challenged in streamlining and simplifying in everyday life, aside from the time that I spend on the cushion.

Still drinking straight teas. For now.

Ok, I find this tea rather remarkable.

The dry leaf is long, thick, wiry.

Steeped, first, rich dense stone fruit, plum, prune and malt. Then, camphor and eucalyptus. Mineral, a bit metallic even. Almond. Followed by a honeyed finish.

Pretty great.

Happy New Year to you, Steepsters!

May you be healthy and well. May your cups be full and warm, may your stashes be fresh and plentiful, may there always be room on your credit card for a coveted and desirable tea purchase or two. May your hearts be kind and compassionate to both yourselves and to those around you.

This arrived as a sample in my order – it’s not something I would have ordered myself… but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I brewed it up Western style and managed to get 3 steeps out of it.

Steep 1, 3 mins 20 secs: slightly savoury/salty, wood, nuts, cream, malty and a naturally sweet aftertaste.
Steep 2, 6 mins: savoury but less salty, delicate notes, minerals, eucalyptus, camphor and steamed green veg.
Steep 3, 12 mins: subtle black tea, green veg and gentle honey sweetness.

Savoury tea is a new one for me, but it was still nice. It took me a long while before I could name the eucalyptus/camphor flavour. A good challenge for my tastebuds.

Still can’t make up my mind on what food I’d eat this tea with. Would more savoury food make it overwhelming? Would sweet food clash horribly? Unfortunately there’s no tea left to test out my theories. Undecided if I should buy some more of this… I’ll think about it.

In the meantime, here’s the longer review with more detail and a few pictures, in case anyone is interested :) https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/what-cha-yunnan-golden-tippy-black-tea-review/

This was one of my sipdowns from earlier in the month. I’m not sure why, but I have been craving Chinese black teas like crazy and have gone through several this month. Honestly, this was one of the weaker black teas I have finished off recently, and I was surprised to discover that considering that I am a huge fan of Yunnan black teas with a particular soft spot for some of the Simao black teas making their way to the West these days.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 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, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of chocolate, pine, sweet potato, honey, malt, and cinnamon. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, brown sugar, cream, black cherry, and butter. The first infusion brought out a little smoke on the nose and a subtle cooked green bean scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of malt, cream, cooked green beans, chocolate, cinnamon, honey, and sweet potato that were chased by butter, brown sugar, roasted almond, and pine hints. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of earth, toast, fennel, black pepper, leather, camphor, and eucalyptus. Hints of smoke appeared in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging black cherry and roasted peanut notes. I also picked up stronger and more immediately noticeable impressions of pine, roasted almond, and brown sugar. New notes of minerals, fennel, black pepper, toast, and leather appeared, and I was also able to detect hints of leather, camphor, eucalyptus, and earth. As the tea settled and faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, malt, roasted peanut, cream, and chocolate notes that were chased by hints of black pepper, camphor, roasted almond, eucalyptus, and pine. A smooth malty, nutty, creamy character was left in the mouth and throat after each swallow.

Compared to many of the other Yunnan black teas I have consumed over the last 3+ years, this one did not offer anything new. It did, however, produce a very nicely textured, mellow tea liquor, and it proved capable of displaying very respectable longevity in a gongfu session. Honestly, I could see this tea working really well in a blend due to its easygoing nature and pleasant texture. On its own, it wasn’t bad, but it also was rather dull and predictable.