Yi Mei Ren Wu Liang Mountain Black Tea * Spring 2016

Sure, I’m writing a tasting note late for this one, but whenever I steep this, I’m always trying to find the magic everyone else was tasting with this one. I even steeped the leaves in a fillable empty tea bag to make sure the steeping wasn’t being altered by my barnacled infusers. The result seems the same as the infuser steeps I tried before. This tea is just too weak for me, even if I steep two teaspoons, even if I steep for five minutes and even if the flavor is SUPPOSED to be this light. It just reminds me of a very mild Laoshan black crossed with one of those roasted oolongs that aren’t my favorite. Somehow I’m just getting a roasty flavor and a thin fruity flavor, possibly cherry. Both steeps almost taste exactly the same. It’s just not the tea for me.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5 minute steep

Backlog.

This one tastes like a darjeeling or bug bitten oolong crossed with a Chinese black tea. A pleasant cherry like fruity aroma greets you upon opening the packet. The tea opens up with lots of wood and a little chocolate and malt in the background. The chocolate becomes more pronounced as the steeps progress and the woodsy notes soften to smooth out the flavor.

I recommend gongfu brewing this one. Western steeping brings out a nice dark red color but loses its nuances and some chocolatey goodness.

It was the description and oolong aspect that interested me.

Clearly I enjoyed the tea as I sipped down three years, the 2016, 2017 and 2018 productions. The plan was for 2017 to be the last, as the tea doesn’t wow me, but on auto-pilot I included the 2018 in my order.

When one is trying to get through a bag rather than savoring how much is left it is time to move on. I tend to enjoy bigger profile blacks and Oolongs.

I might order a first flush Darjeeling from India next year and see if it bears any resemblance to my memories of Yi Mei Ren Wu Liang.

I wish I could recall more about this tea. It was warm. Toasty. Tasty. Not too strong. It kept me warm.
Third infusion was the best. (so steeps 3, 1 and then 2)
Also? I attended a macaron making demo. Thats some complicated stuff.
Oh and I ate gold. Errr gold dusted macarons. With Cola filling.

And for some reason I can’t stop thinking about this song. My first pairing? Nothing to do with orientation or anything. I’m just darn cold. If you keep me warm I don’t care who you kiss lol (err well actually I do, just no the bits underneath. sucker for love stories here!)
https://youtu.be/hlVBg7_08n0

I’m kinda sad my students didn’t win the case competition. Apparently they did a great job. I know nothing of finance so can’t comment. Except to say that I would like to buy some futures in macarons.

Ok I’m rambling. Time for bed.

Sweet and smooth, with a wonderful scent of roasted cacao and butter. There is a bit of sourness that adds complexity to the taste, especially as the cup cools. There are fermented woody notes as well. I don’t get any florals – this tea is hefty. Prepared Western style in a big ol’ mug. Thanks for sharing, Indigobloom, this one goes on the wish list.

Just realized I’ve nearly finished my supply of this without posting any impressions.

Prepared in my Jian Shui gaiwan. Filtered Santa Monica municipal water just off the boil throughout – from gaiwan to glass cha hai to bone porcelain cup:

Twisted, wilted, very dark individual leaves with some rust/gold tips remind me of talons.
No wash, steeped around 10 times, slowly moving up from 10 seconds to a full minute by the final pour.

Marigold liquor that grows more auburn as you extend the steep time – almost like the tea is blushing, embarrassed for me for steeping it too long. The aroma of the dry and wet leaves is consistent, singular, and difficult to find a direct analogy for. Hints of cream, straw, and low earthy and floral aromatics round out the profile.

The flavor adds a mild biscuit malt character to the nose, along with chocolate, toasted pecans, and some (wine like?) minerality (wet stones) in the finish.

Smooth, pleasant mouth-feel with no perceptible astringency unless you let it steep for several minutes.

As described, this is a mellow but characterful black tea with some qualities of an oolong. A very good value, and quite pleasurable on a rainy/Winter day.

This tea has a unique character that separates it from the other black teas offered at YS. The aromatics are strong, sweet, and clear, with an aroma somewhere between wine and chocolate. There are hints of brown bread and dark fruit fragrances as well. This is a very clean black tea.

Where has this been all my life. Superb execution on the making of this tea. Perfect oxidation and roasting, leading to a burst of floral, malt and citrus. The only other red tea I’ve had with this profile was a Darjeeling from Teabox.

This tea is really good. It has really nice tasting notes of malt and chocolate. The chocolate note is strong and the malt is not overpowering. This is definitely a tea to buy more of.

I brewed this twice in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 and 4 minutes. I put the second steeping in a thermos for work.