Gong Fu Black

An Obsession: this tea and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers (classic). The roasty, grainy perfect sans additions tea and the salty cheddary crackers? My idea of heaven! It’s gotten to be such a thing with me that I bought an over 3.5 lb box of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers at Costco.

I’m enjoying it right now. Mmmmmmmmm.

Tea of the morning……..

I have not had this one in a while. I love gong fu black tea. The cocoa notes are so wonderful, especially when you are trying to avoid too much sugar in your life. I really should be drinking this type of tea more often, but I always seem to get distracted by the teas that are more fussy than this. This is awesome, but still, everyday tea.

Usual teapot method.

I love this tea. LOVE it. For those of you who loved and are missing Dawn from the Simple Leaf, try this.

This tea is a wonderful morning brew. Now that I have done away with my coffee habit I am searching for a great way to start the day. If there is one positive from my hospital stay it is doing away with coffee. My true love is tea in all of its forms. All of a sudden my love of tea has grown to unimaginable heights. My quest for a morning brew continues….

Chose this one to prop me up today, and it has done so twice—once this morning out the door, and once this afternoon to celebrate selling the patch of dirt, all that remains of House that Was. Chapter closed.

Both cups from the same leaves—-if you’ve ever had a Cadbury Fruit and Nut bar, the kind that’s just packed with dried fruit—this is its tea equivalent. Second steep, of course, is a tetch lighter, but the shape of the flavor (if that’s not too weird a concept) is still there.

Here’s to moving on — in the care of the One who holds my future.

Today is my birthday, and my present to myself was to brew an entire carafe of this for breakfast.

This wonderful tea has filled the place in my heart and my cupboard that was previously occupied by Upton’s currently unavailable Panyang Bohea Supreme. That insanely cocoa-y tea had become a minor obsession, as I compulsively checked the New Arrivals section of Upton’s site almost daily, knowing full well that, barring a miracle, it would not be restocked until late fall. If ever.

Zhi’s Gong Fu Black is, so help me, the identical twin of Panyang Bohea Supreme: rich, naturally cocoa-y to the max, little to no astringency. To me this is the pinnacle of what Chinese black teas, particularly Fujians, can be. And because it is readily available, I am able to stop my frantic stock-checking, relax and enjoy a pot of it whenever I like.

As I take stock of the many blessings in my life, I must include this remarkable tea among them. Thank you for restoring my mental health, Gong Fu Black! And a million thank-yous, Zhi Tea, for offering it!

I am finally finishing off my sample of this tea that MzPriss sent me a while back.

Today wasn’t a good day for me, I’ve felt bad all day with a stomach virus of some kind and the weather here has been freakishly hot. I really haven’t done much aside from sleep and am having my first cup of tea now at almost 5:30.

This is super nice and chocolate-y tasting, smooth and delicious. I could definitely see myself buying some of this if I placed an order with Zhi at some point in the future. Right now I am wondering what other tea I can drink that might be easy on my tummy since I will probably stop with the caffeine here. Maybe ginger would be good.

I hadn’t had this tea in about 8 years, and I got another sample of it not long ago. After these two very positive experiences with it, I really should order some, but my tea wall is groaning under the weight of the tea I already have!

I reviewed it for Sororitea Sisters and here is the link: http://sororiteasisters.com/2019/07/22/gong-fu-black-zhi-tea/

But since I don’t like to click on links, here is the review!

Really wanting to use my new gaiwan tonight, I pawed through my tea samples and my eye fell on this. Perfect! I don’t have to wonder if it is a good candidate for the gaiwan. The name tells me so!

The leaves are thin and twisted, and very dark. They have that heady chocolate aroma you find in black and oolong tea sometimes. After warming the gaiwan and allowing the leaves to rest in it for a moment, the scent is now much nuttier.

I experimented a bit and found that I like this one to have a little more time than I would give some teas. It didn’t become bitter – the main incentive for keeping a steep short would be to prevent bitterness – so I let those warm, rich flavors develop over a few extra seconds. The darkest steep was my favorite.

The tea is creamy, nutty, with a little hint of cocoa. It is so smooth that even a black tea phobe drinking with me liked it plain. Although there is virtually no astringency, there is the slightest briskness that develops over time in a very pleasant way. Walnut is the flavor that I most notice lingering.

I lost count but my guess is that we had about seven or eight steeps from this session. Overall, a very pleasant tea. I definitely want to have a look at this company’s other offerings, as well!

Thank you, justnord, for swapping with me for this tea! This is really nice. It reminds me of very much of Laoshan Black. It is chocolatey and fruity with very low astringency. I believe that Laoshan Black was sweeter and more complex than this, but now I’m going to have to do a side-by-side comparison soon! I really enjoyed having this with one of my current vices- Gardein Chick’n Sliders. :-)

This leaf produces a scrumptious comforting cup of tea. The dry leaves are twisted black (with a little gold thrown in) wires with a very pleasant dark-chocolate fruit aroma. The reddish brown liquid has a smooth sweetness that is caramelized with a hint of bittersweet chocolate and a very pleasant aftertaste. No tea bitterness and very little astringency. This tea is a winner.