Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong

Mineral sweetness. Smooth velvety mouth-feel. Faint roasted notes. Hint of chocolate tone. Brisk crispness on finish but not astringency or bitterness. I can definitely see what they mean about the scotch note- definitely present in the aftertaste. There’s a coolness on the palate similar to after having consumed alcohol.

I received my Black Friday order from this company today and I am impressed by how fast it got here and how nice it was packaged. I opened all the tea pouches because I was too curious to see and smell them and they all seem very high quality.

This is very good! Maybe it helps that I am eating caramel chocolate bark with it :) I find that this tea has no bitterness or astringency at all. I can’t really taste the smoky flavour though, maybe I didn’t steep it long enough (I didn’t follow Yezi Teas’ instruction to brew it gong fu style). I am not a scotch drinker so I can’t really comment on the similarities in flavour.

I received this as a free sample from Yezi Tea. Their samples come beautifully packaged in color coded foil packets which don’t seem to allow scent leakage. The whole unboxing experience was very neat and clean. The samples came in a tiny flat box, which was actually small enough to fit into my little apartment mailbox, and there were all sorts of cute thank you notes and notes about “red tea” as a name for black tea and smiley faces and stuff. They seem very promising for a starting tea company, and I hope to place another order with them soon.

The tea: On their website, they call this “I can’t believe it’s not scotch”, but as with the butter substitute, I certainly can believe it. I actually get some sweet, fruity notes from this tea. It has the lightest kiss of smokiness and an undercurrent I can’t place… It’s like a combination of pollen and nuts. The first steeping was a beautiful mahogany, which darkened to a deep raw umber with subsequent steepings. From the scent and the color, I was expecting a heavy handed tea that smacked you upside the head with flavor and smoke and depth, but the zheng shan xiao zhong was actually very delicate and light. All things considered, it was a pretty positive tea drinking experience.

Mild but good.

I don’t know what went wrong with this, but it tasted like manure. Literally. Have no idea why….Maybe was a bad batch. 0_0
Glad it was only a sample :S

I’ve been drinking this at work for the last couple of days….. It’s a strange one.
I normally like Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong – but this isn’t what I was expecting. I didn’t get any smoke at all (I wasn’t expecting full out Lapsang, but was expecting a little). There is something boozy in here – it says scotch, but that’s not it. I’m getting more wine, grape, alcohol and it’s not working for me.
It’s too bad, I like Yezi, but this one just isn’t for me. :((

I don’t live a cup-half-empty life. My cup is always full (of tea!!!)

Method: I was in a rush b/c of problems with my dogs this AM, so this was something like 1/2 tbsp per 8 oz, 1 and 2.5 minute steeps. 200 degrees. French press.

And this is soothing my nerves in the most lovely way. It’s a little fruity and quite refreshing. I’m glad made a giant thermos for work! It has a nice astringency on the finish that is pleasant along with a mild sweetness. Yum!

Far less smoke than a Laphroaig and not as peaty either but it was a very gentle taste. The flavor and aroma of chocolate was the abundant profile for me along with malt and a hint of cherry. Yezi’s black teas are amazing. I brewed a large amount in a small yixing and steeped for only a few seconds to get a good tasting. Shared with a friend whos own review was “Yum”.

So in honor of my Pokemon Challenge, I have deiced that watching the TV show from the beginning is the best idea ever. I am always a slave to nostalgia! At 20 episodes in I can safely say I forgot how much of a jerk Pikachu was at first, and how Team Rocket fails at everything. Good times, good times.

Today’s tea, Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong by Yezi Tea might be more familiar to you with its alternative name, Lapsang Souchong, but it is a little different from the usual run of the mill Lapsang Souchong. Originally Lapsang Souchong was made from the large leaves farther down the stem, smoked over a pine fire, and traded on the Tea Horse Road to places like Russia and Tibet. Now what about the fine leaves and buds at the top of the stem? Those were kept for the high and mighty, and for years not let out of China, they went by the name Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong. Hailing from the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian, the aroma of these delicate leaves is like an aged oak cask that once stored scotch. There are also notes of cocoa and peanuts with a honey sweetness, of course there is a hint of pine fire. The smokiness is distant, the way the air smells when one of your neighbors is using their fire place on a chilly night, or a distant campfire.

Into the gaiwan the leaves go! After their steeping the wet leaves have a stronger smoky aroma with a surprising cinnamon note. There is also the aroma of cocoa, honey, and peanuts with a finish of pine wood. The aroma is quite rich. The liquid is richly sweet and faintly creamy with a gently pine smoke finish.

The first steeping is sweet, delicious honey sweetness with notes of cocoa and peanuts. Of course there is smoke, very gently pine smoke. Again the imagery of a distant campfire fills my mind as I sip it. The mouthfeel is quite smooth, definitely one of those teas that fills up the mouth while sipping.

The second steep’s aroma has much stronger pine and smoke aroma with a much sweeter finish. The taste is wonderfully sweet, starting off with strong honey and raisin notes and fading to more of a semisweet chocolate flavor. There is a rich peanut finish and a pine wood aftertaste. Overlaying the entire experience is a gentle smokiness. This steeping is even more rich than the first and is a wonderful experience.

The third steep’s aroma is almost all pine smoke and gentle sweetness. The taste is so rich, oh man it is incredibly rich! Sweet honey and raisin that fades to cocoa, with midtaste to finish of pine smoke. If you find that Lapsang Souchong is far too potent in its smokiness than this is the tea for you…if you find that you want your Fujian Black tea to have a little more smokiness with its usual sweetness than this is the tea for you. Actually if you like tea in general I would recommend this one!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/03/yezi-tea-zheng-shan-xiao-zhong-tea.html

The new 2014 batch. AMAZING.