Foxtails

Finally got to try an oz of this one! It always looks sooo pretty, and it is very pretty in reality. The smell has a lot of complexity, though the western/grandpa brew that came out was heavy on malt and sweet potatoe. The flavors didn’t have too much dimension, but it was definitely enjoyable. I’ve been spoiled by Imperial North Winds in the past, so it’s got stiff competition. However, I have darker sweeter blacks that will blend nicely. This will ground out some of the sweetness and add more “starch” or bread(th). I know, bad pun.

wet leaves sweet potato and corn fields

i cant say i have a particularly strong sense memory of wet hay but thats a vibe for sure.. corn mazes, the smell in the air after shaving pumpkin skin

It’s quite rainy out (a rarity for Los Angeles), which has been making me crave black teas. I generally like more malty/chocolate forward black teas, and for some reason I was expecting that from this. However, I got quite the opposite. Very bready, with some mild floral notes. I’m finding it to be a bit astringent, with a particular acidic feeling in the throat. It’s okay, not something I’d really want again.

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 17

Such a pretty tea! Long downy golden buds that really do look like little furry tails. It had a delicious cocoa aroma while it was brewing, but I didn’t get much chocolate from the flavor, which was surprisingly light and delicate. It was very smooth (no astringency that I noticed) but not quite as robust as I personally prefer my black tea to be. Almost reminded me of an oolong, actually!

Dried leaves smelled of dried grass. Long light brown leaves. Liquor is medium amber with a molasses aroma. I like this tea a lot better gongfu. It’s rather complex so it changes throughout the infusions. Beginning with malt, sweet potato, molasses, a little mushroom and then as the infusions continued… A little cocoa, caramel, honey, and mineral notes. Sweet potato, malt, some baked bread throughout the infusions. I can’t determine what type of spice but there is a little spice in the finish (cloves?) and a cooling feeling on the tongue as well. Almost mint but not quite. If you like Yunnan black tea, you may want to give this one a try. ^^
6g, 212℉, 110ml
7 steeps: rinse, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 60s, 90s, 120s

A delicate, smooth and complex dianhong. The early autumn peacefulness and richness of aromas. Its unique taste gently but resolutely resists the attempts to describe and deconstruct it. However: some malt, caramel, plum, spices, baked goods, sweet potato, herbs…

It induces wakefulness, sharpens your senses and brings a note of nostalgia.

I adore the name of this one, and it’s beautiful when dry with all the buds – they do look like fox tails! Beyond that, it’s a cozy and comfortable tea. No bitterness, nothing deep and dark. A little earthy, sometimes just a hint of a little peppery/herbal in the background. The sweetness is pretty mellow too, it doesn’t taste like fruit or desserts or anything like that. I didn’t think of sweet potato while drinking it, but seeing other people describe it that way makes sense. It’s not my longest lasting tea, but I got several good cups out of it.

This was my first sipdown of the week. At some point over the course of the year, I acquired a pouch of this tea. I’m not certain whether it was from 2016 or 2017, though if I had to guess, I would say the former. I did not quite know what to expect when I cracked this one open. I had seen multiple reviews online, and despite the general reception being mostly positive, it got more mixed reviews overall than I would normally expect from a Whispering Pines offering. Personally, I found this to be an excellent hong cha.

Before I provide my usual rundown of my brewing method, allow me to state that I deviated a little from Whispering Pines’ brewing instructions. The brewing instructions on the pouch recommended a water temperature of 212 F, but that seemed a little high to me. I am used to using temperatures between 194-205 F for many tippy Yunnan black teas, and once I saw the profusion of golden tips, I knew I would not be using the recommended water temperature. I’ve had a lot of luck lately with using 194 F water for Yunnan black teas, so that is what I went with here. The rinse was only a couple seconds. I more or less did it water on, water off. I stuck with my usual 6 grams of loose tea in a 4 ounce gaiwan. Infusions ran as follows: 5 seconds, 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 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 emitted pronounced aromas of baked bread, sweet potato, and molasses. After the rinse, I found new aromas of vanilla, malt, and brown sugar. The first proper infusion brought out a touch of woodiness on the nose. On the palate, I found light notes of baked bread, malt, brown sugar, sweet potato, and molasses. Subsequent infusions brought out impressions of cream, cocoa, clove, anise, wood, caramel, fennel, orange, honey, minerals, and eucalyptus. The later infusions offered lingering impressions of minerals, brown sugar, sweet potato, malt, and wood chased by gentle, cooling herbal notes on the finish.

In my opinion, this was yet another really nice Yunnan black tea from Whispering Pines Tea Company. I particularly liked the little herbal notes it offered and was extremely impressed by both its smooth body and respectable staying power. Overall, I would have no issue recommending this tea to fans of traditional Yunnan black teas.

Gongfu Sipdown (668)!

This is/was a very old sample; it’s labelled on the bag as Spring 2017 – so I’m electing to call it unintentionally aged, rather than stale or anything like that. It actually did come out really quite nice tasting though, despite spending the last two years in a little sample packet. Maybe less vibrant/rich than it used to be, but completely drinkable and still really pleasant! I only got like five steeps, but I was pushing them fairly long to compensate for the sparse amount of leaf I was brewing. Still delightful, and also just a REALLY beautiful tea to look at!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0LhtKAgQMi/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN-xizBxlko

Sipdown. I had one very last underleafed cup of this. 205F. Malty, bready, honey. Good, but not repurchase.