Light Roast Wild Tree Purple Varietal Black Tea of Dehong - Spring 2014

This is a very sweet tea to start with but becomes a little bitter and roasted after lingering on the pallet.

I’m really shocked at how much I like this tea. I had more or less written off all smokey teas as “not for me”, but I’m enjoying this one very much. It’s almost fully lacking the sourness that I associate with smokey teas. The description of this being a “complex” tea is spot on. There are notes that are sweet, spicy, herbaceous, floral, earthy, and mineral. I’m definitely going to save some of this tea for cuddling under a blanket with a book on a rainy day. Speaking of which, my third compendium of The Walking Dead arrived yesterday. I’m very excited to begin reading it tonight!

Marco Polo Traveling Tea Box – Tea #1

Finally getting around to writing reviews of the teas I sampled! Oh boy. I have some catching up to do. I poofed from Steepster a few months ago, due to many things—the largest reason being that I started smoking cigarettes again and slowly lost my ability to accurately taste. I stopped drinking tea for a while. It seemed such a waste to drink tea when I couldn’t fully appreciate it. Anyway, I kicked the habit, and now I’m trying to get back into the swing of things. Starting with the teas from the last box I participated in…

This is a very unique tea. It opens with a spicy, herbaceous flavor that’s much like eucalyptus and little like sage. It’s refreshing. It’s a taste that’s very “green”, smooth, and a little sweet. The smell of the tea is somewhat acidic—I believe Tea Sipper called it “sour plums”—but it doesn’t translate into the taste as much as the texture. Almost minty, a little drying, but smooth. It’s not overpowering. It’s an undertone. There’s a bit of that acidic quality to the taste, but it reminds me more of bitter nut skins than plums. There’s also a hint of floral here. It’s hard to pick out exactly how or what it reminds me of. This tea is silky in texture, and it’s drying in a way that makes my mouth water. I’m catching hints of dried fruit, wood, nuts, and a slight mineral taste. It gains a lot of sweetness and a creamy, milky finish as you sip. Very strong qi for a black tea. Very enjoyable cup. Not a heavy tea by any means.

Method:
2tsp/10oz
First steep: 1min
Second steep: 2min
Third steep: 3min

Lewis & Clark #3

I’m really looking forward to this tea; I almost added it to my order last Month, but fiscal reality prevailed. The nose is surprisingly light; almost green in nature. The first sip started slowly but built inside my mouth until it was just huge. Big long finish.

I’m at a loss for words to describe the flavor. It is sweet, definitely smoky, but with an almost medicinal, herbal undertone. (after writing this review I read other reviews, and realize that “smoked meat” is fairly close. It sounds weird, but tastes good.)

The most interesting feature for me was that drinking this tea put me into a powerful meditative state, similar to a pu-erh with a lot of cha qi. I don’t recall seeing this in a black tea before. My rating is based upon this aspect of the tea. Were I judging on taste alone, it would be about an 85.

Continuing my gongfu sessions, my ‘purple black tea’ yixing is getting a real workout today!
https://instagram.com/p/7DI2HqD8i0/?taken-by=terriharplady
The predominant tastes of this one are an herby eucalyptus, a sweet sugarcane, with hints of chocolate & rose, if that all makes sense.

These dark and wiry leaves don’t seem very “light roast” to me, though the color of the mug is a light gold. Brewed it has a fragrance like a lapsang souchong. I don’t mind smokiness, but otherwise the flavor seems like sour plums. It’s funny this is a “purple” tea if it reminds me of plums. It reminds me of a tea I’ve tried before but I couldn’t say which one but otherwise doesn’t seem like black teas or pu-erh. Not terrible but there are other teas I’d be craving more!
steep #1 // 2 tsps. // 15 min after boiling // 3 min

i really like purple teas of Dehong. This one is no exception. the taste is complex. Its like mix of smoked meats, raw nuts, maybe floral, but on the background. in other words it tastes savory to me. Some spice makes it complete.
Gongfu method
5g 100ml gaiwan 200F
rinse/5/5/10/10/15/20sec etc

http://instagram.com/p/taqZ5UhwlO/

Lewis & Clarke TTB

Another tea from Yunnan Sourcing that I’ve been wanting to try! The leaves are very long and tightly twisted, and very dark chocolate brown in color. The dry scent is actually kind of hard for me to place… It’s definitely roasty and a bit smoky, but there’s also an interesting dried fruit note along with a fairy amount of sweetness. Pipe tobacco, maybe? I steeped mine for 3 minutes.

Brewed aroma is very roasty with some smoke with an interesting herbaceous note. I’m actually surprised that there’s not a ton of smoke in the taste. There’s definitely roasty flavor that reminds me of roasted coffee beans, and there’s a little bit of mineral flavor and smoke alongside it. There’s something a little bit herbaceous about it, although I’m not sure I can place which herb (sage maybe?). I also get a mushroom-like flavor.

Overall, this tea is tasty and it seems quite unique compared to other black teas I’ve tried! :)

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yunnan-black-teas/2908-light-roast-wild-tree-purple-varietal-black-tea-of-dehong-spring-2014.html

Wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. I have several black teas around, including a black tea puerh cake. Usually black tea is about controlling the bitterness, or dumping in milk if all else fails. Wild Purple puerh can be really astringent and this is pretty much the same leaf. So I debated whether to grandpa a bit of this or gongfu, went with the gongfu in xisha clay. The leaves are long and very lightweight, so 3 grams of this is actually a lot of leaf. The usual 100-115 ml of water on the boil, one rinse. Braced myself for bitter.

The results? A floral smelling soup that actually transfers into the cup! Tastes like roses and the wild sweet pea blossoms I liked to nibble on when I was a kid. I am not a chaser after florals in tea, but this flavor is naturally present! Completely smooth with a touch of leather and wood, like a train trunk. Steeping cup after cup, the sweet smell and taste brings tears to my eyes. A harsh day at work melting away.

I don’t give high scores lightly, not that the scoring system is all that meaningful for me, but I really doubt I will ever taste a finer black tea than this.