Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Bai Lin Gong Fu – other than sounding like the name of a cheesy 70s martial arts flick – is a black tea hailing from Fujian province, China. The territory is best known for producing Wuyi oolongs and the ever-famous Bai Hao Yinzhen (or Silver Needle white tea). The only other black tea I know of made their is Golden Monkey, which is just AWESOME! Anyway…

This was an impressive enough looking black tea with brown-to-black, curled leaves in full effect. Tippy pieces also dotted the canvas, giving a spritely touch to the earthy presentation. Smelling it was also an experience, for I found it hard to pinpoint what to call the scent; I settled on “caramel musk” – even though that sounds like a male aftershave.

Teavivre recommended 1-2 tsps. per 8oz. of 185F water steeped for two-to-three minutes. I braved a quickie brew-up at 199F water for two minutes – 1 tbsn. and a 12oz. cup. I was on the go.

The liquor brewed a deep red-brown with a smoky-sweet aroma that reminded me of a Keemun. Further whiffing turned up notes of wood, leather and chocolate. Y’know…manly things. There seemed to also be a dryness to the scent, which turned up on the flavorful forefront. However, that was thankfully minor, and it was followed up by a bold, malty middle with shades of honey. Some bitterness showed up on finish, but I owed that to my near-boil brew-up, not the leaves. This was different from the other two Bai Lins I’ve tried – which both exhibited more earthy, Yunnan-like tendencies – but I still favored its robust roundhouse kick of a taste. It’s a morning cup, that’s for certain.

You can purchase the Bailin Gongfu directly from the Teavivre website.

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Written by Geoff Its All About the Leaf Reviewer - Read more about this author on Geoff's profile page - View recent posts by Geoff