Imperial Gold Buds

We do buy this one a lot but drink it not so much like Lance said in his review, Surely one of my fav Yunnan Blacks. I’m drinking it right now with a little Fujian Black added not because it needs anything added to it but just because I like mixing the two sometimes.
To me it has notes of malt, chocolate, honey, earth and more.
We have had lots of these type teas some good some bad some maybe even better than this one but prolly not one as beautiful as this one because it IS prolly the prettiest yunnan golds we’ve had.
I like everything about this yunnan gold tea and I drink what I like so this is the one I’d rather drink. Also lance loves it so that is a plus too, I couldn’t get him to drink much teas with me before WP.
If ya like this one and the Fujian wont you make yourself a cup with both 50/50, You may love it!

We are up a little late tonight for a dialysis night but thats ok we are enjoying some really good tea(it don’t keep us up anymore it actually relaxes us before bed lol). This particular Imperial Gold Buds are one of if not The very best Dian Hong i’ve ever had, thanks to Tommy the Toad I’ve had lots and lots of Yunnan black teas puers and dian hongs I do not like the Puer but I do love the dian hongs.
We’ve had some really dark colored dian hongs and some really pretty golden colored ones like this one and lots in between with black and gold leaves.
This is probably the most beautiful looking and pleasant tasting, the leaves look absolutely stunning totally golden and fluffy soft looking with millions of little furs all over, just beautiful.
Brendens Bi Luo Chun(another yunnan black) is also just as pretty and almost as tasty BTW but not as Imperial Gold Buds ;)
The flavor of this Imperial Gold Buds Tea is very bold and malty, notes of cocoa, creamy vanilla and honey with an earthy sweetness and a slight hint of floral.
This is easy one of our top 5 teas, one that we have bought often but drink sparingly as to not ruin the experience by spoiling the taste buds with it too often, it has a nice happy energy and I look forward to buying even more soon, 100 taste points from me!
I do recommend this tea :)

Well hello good Steepster people!

So I needed warmth…what better tea than this beautiful golden Dian Hong?

First, the look. I mean, have you had a close look at those buds? PURE GOLD!!

So soft and fury, I want to pet them ( ok, I admit…I did pet them…I am a first class TeaGeekette after all, why hide in shame?)

The brew is all glitters and gold, a beautiful sunny light in the glass pitcher.

I forget how good this is…I rarely have it cause, well, I just have so many teas!!

It qualifies for my “pudding-like” tea list, cause of how sweet and thick it feels in my mouth. Unlike any other Yunnan I have had.

The sweetness reminds me of barley sugar candies. I also get cocoa and sweet potato notes.

It’s very fragrant, I find a certain floral quality to it.

Not as damp and earthy as one might expect, but a little “mossy” and yeasty.

Full of beautiful nuances and complexity, this tea screams for gongfu brewing. And it’s so forgiving, you can’t mess it up, it never gets astringent or bitter.

I had a lovely session earlier…another wonderful tea from Whispering Pines :-)

Here are some pics:

http://instagram.com/p/vuBJInQh24/

http://instagram.com/p/vuCET1wh9q/

http://instagram.com/p/vuFp_3Qh4f/

i thought WP used to write all their parameters on the bag – this time around, none of my teas have them written on them, making it challenging for me when i make a tea – means i need to have my computer on. Which i didn’t this morning when i was making this one. Still tastes dcent but not as lovely as i remember it being. will have to see if i can do better next time.

The dry aroma on this tea is really interesting. It smells malty, and there’s a general roasty aroma. It smells like something I have smelled before, but I cannot place the aroma.

The tea steeps to a light yellow amber color and I taste the same malty/roasty type scents from the aroma.

It’s a little pricey, and while I think it’s very good, I didn’t love it.

This was a sample I rec’d from my first Whispering Pines order, and the only pure tea in the batch! I got sucked in by all the interesting blends, and can’t wait to try them out! Thank you for letting me try this!

But this is such a beautiful Yunnan tea. I had to drink it first. I love the golden and black leaves – it’s so pretty. And this tea is really wonderful. I was surprised that it only has a few reviews, but the when I looked it up on the site I saw it was $11.75/oz. I guess that might explain it. It does taste quite fancy though.

I get cocoa and honey, and a little malt. It’s rich and complex and not at all bitter, even though I steeped it for 5 minutes by mistake! Like a lot of the Yunnan teas I’ve had, this one is quite smooth too. I get a little bit of fruitiness at the end of each sip, but I can’t quite place my finger on it!

I wanted to try another of my Whispering Pines teas but I am going to re-steep this first!
(175) The other half is going to Sil so she can try it too!

I wish I could remember how this compares to other Dian Hong teas, but I do know this one is great.

I was sent an oz of this free with my order. This was a reserve tea that they were giving away as part of a promotion.

I will caveat my review by saying I’m not the world’s biggest black tea fan.

The flavor is very subtle. It starts off tasting like what I’d consider a typical black tea to taste like, and then the nuances start coming out. There is almost a bitter taste that fades into almost sour. It plays on the border between drinkable/undrinkable for me but never quite crosses over the line.

I imagine black tea drinkers would love this one. Unfortunately, that’s not really me.