Spring 2013 "Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong" of Wu Yi Fujian Black tea

mmmmm…this has grown on me every time i have it. There’s enough for another little cup but i’m passing that on to Cavocorax since i think she might enjoy this one and it’s always fun to share! :)

thanks for sending this in the BBB Box terri!

God, this stuff is good! It’s not the smokey lapsang type, but just a super rich dark chocolate thick mouthed roasty cup of YUM!
I made a cup this morning to drink en route to the wedding. Now I’m having a second cup before heading out into the garden for an hour. It’s such a beautiful day in this neighborhood!
I’m also drinking it to make Sil jeolous ;)

Thank you Sil (and Terri?) for this sample! (162)

It smells so dark and rich, and I probably shouldn’t be drinking it at 11, but I’ve got more Supernatural episodes I’d like to watch.

It’s very rich with a lot of cocoa notes and maybe some oak? It’s not as sweet as I had expected, but ti’s still very nice. It makes me think of Laoshan Black, although I couldn’t quite say what the difference is.

YUM!!!! Got this from Terri Harplady in the BBBB and it is absolutely delicious! Made it in the gaiwan and enjoyed about 5 steeps before it started to lose the robust flavor. This is seriously good. Thanks Terri!

Oh this is really really tasty! Thanks so much for sharing, Dexter.

It’s super grainy. Reminds me a little of the roasted buckwheat teas. Nice and thick. A little sweet – maybe like roasted sweet potatoes? It’s that caramelized delightfulness that isn’t really sugary.

I don’t get chocolate, at all. Some of the flavours remind me of “dirt tea” but thankfully the dirt is rather mild. Most of the flavours are thick grains.

Yum.

Another Nicole (and possibly boychik) tea! This looks quite similar to the Yi Mei Ren I had earlier today, but the leaves are thinner. Same jet black spindly texture though. Spider legs! Their dry scent is very mild, I think it’s probably because the tea has been in a clear resealable bag for a while, so most of the scent is gone. Smells lightly of honey, malt, and raisin. I brewed for 3 minutes.

The aroma is very chocolaty, which I was not expecting! There’s also quite a bit of malt along with honey, molasses, and raisin notes. As soon as I taste this, I notice that it has that fennel seed-like spice note, and quite a bit of it. It’s interesting because the other two teas I’ve had with a similar flavor are both Yunnan, while this is a Fujian tea. I wonder why that is… Anyway, the flavor is very malty and deep with molasses adding a background richness, but not sweetness. This tea is definitely quite savory. I don’t get as much cocoa as I would expect from the aroma, but it’s there a little bit. I would describe it as roasted cacao nibs.

Definitely an interesting and enjoyable tea. I find myself wanting to go eat some spices until I find out exactly what that herbaceous spice note is!

Also, no one else mentioned the spice in their notes… But I found it extremely obvious. Is that weird or what?

Another lovely tea from Terri :D

Had another crazy busy weekend! Back at work now and very glad for strong teas to drink…

This one I did a real long steep on…OMG SO rich and dark and cocoa-licious. No astringency. It reminds me of Laoshan Black without the creamy/beany element. Very tasty! Hoping I can get a 2nd and maybe 3rd steep despite my long first steep :)

Thanks Terri!

This is generous sample i got from Terri HarpLady- thank you.
I made it western style 1tsp, 205F 8oz 3min
This tea is soo good. its sweet, malty, multigrain bread. it has Fijian dark chocolate notes as well. this type of tea i’ll never be tired of drinking. it goes on my every day growing shopping list for Yunnan Sourcing. 100% order.
Once i get more of it i will try gongfu style.
Thank you so much Terri for including this sample. i really enjoyed this tea

I picked this one up when Yunnan Sourcing was having a sale, I believe it was in December, but hadn’t tried it until tonight. So, so, so good. It tasted like Cheerios and chocolate, both in the best ways imaginable. I’m glad I finally tried this tea. It will be difficult not to drink it up fast!

(While searching for when the sale was, I noticed that Yunnan Sourcing sells tea via Amazon??? Has anyone here ever purchased tea from them that way?)

:-) I like it even more than I expected to.