Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Black Leaf’

Today I decided to review a herbal tea from Distinctly Tea, a new tea shop in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. The tea is Ginger-peach Supreme. To the eye, the tea contains black leaf tea with white tea buds, sunflower petals and some other white flower petal that I could not identify. Upon reading the ingredients I found out that the black leaf is Ceylon tea and the white flower petal is Calendula petal. You can definitely smell the spicyness of the ginger and the sweetness of the peach from the dried leaf.

This steeps quite a satisfying beverage that is easy to drink. It has a gingery spicy-ness to it, you know that sort of sting-y feeling you get from ginger, so there was something to hold on to, yet it was smooth enough to go down easily. The initial sting-yness sort of dissipates as the tea cools but the gingery taste is still always there. I think the peach and Ceylon tea acts as a good counter-balance to soften the taste of the ginger.

It can withstand a second steeping, although a little less sweet. I taste less of the peach and more of the ginger this time around. The taste of the Ceylon is also more apparent. As I reach the bottom of my gaiwan, the dregs make the liquor taste very, very gingery but I notice that even with extended steeping although the infusion gets dark orange it does not get too overly bitter. This is a very nice tea, I’m glad I chose it.

You can purchase the Ginger Peach Supreme directly from the Distinctly Tea website.

The China Yunnan Silver Tip Choice Tea from Grace Tea is a tea that anyone can enjoy. Yunnan tea is grown at high altitudes in the mountains in the south of China. Yunnan tea is one of the oldest style of tea, known for its intense black tight-wired leaf and brassy red-brown liquor with low astringency, a spicy note and complex bouquet. Yunnan is one of the world’s versatile teas, used for flavouring teas such as Earl Grey.

The sample of Yunnan black tea demonstrated uniform precision of the twist in the small dry black leaf. This is certainly “choice”. There was a small amount of golden tips of maybe 10% and even some silver tips which makes this tea “silver”. When tea leaves are picked in early spring, the pekoe (“hairs”) on the leaf are silver. With processing, the pekoe becomes golden. Its a bit more unusual to find silver tips in a Yunnan and I looked hard to find them. I compared the content and texture to a superior Imperial Yunnan and a Golden Yunnan. The Imperial Yunnan was keenly floral, malty and toasty-scented when I opened the package. The China Yunnan however was very light in scent, almost no floral or malt dominance but there was a light fired-scent. The Golden Yunnan by contrast had a heavier amount of golden tips perhaps 40% with a larger leaf. By looking at the leaf, I mused that I was going to get a lot of colour and a bit of flavour with some astringency from the Grace’s smaller leaf Yunnan.

I noticed there even some small green chopped pieces that gave me some ideas on preparing this tea. I recall my friend in Hong Kong never used boiling water even on black tea. If you are English, please don’t gag reading this. So in following her lead, I took the water off the boil and at 90 Celsius poured the water over 2.5 grams of tea in a 5 oz. gaiwan. Just as I was placing the lid on top of the gaiwan, I noticed the colour was expressing almost immediately. I waited an impatient 2 1/2 minutes for steeping. Now that may seem like a short time, but I’m used to pouring off green teas after 30 seconds. I poured off the brew noting it dribbled awkwardly from the gaiwan. I smelled the warm leaves, taking in the toasty sweet scent. The colour of the wet leaf was a mahogany red. I could see that the leaf was softened but hadn’t opened fully. I knew on the next steep that I would increase the time.

The colour of the liquor was a golden-red bronze-brown. There was no debris or cloudiness. A rim of chlorophyll settled around the cup. See photo.

There was a “tar” scent to the liquor in a good way and perhaps even some chocolate tones. I slurped the tea taking the liquor to the back of my tongue. I could sense the astringency sitting lightly on the tongue and at the back of the throat. There was a woodsy taste, not smoky and any other flavours seemed light. The astringency lingered unwanted. The extended steep time next time would draw out more flavours.

I brought the water up to temperature again and this time my steep with a fresh sample was for a full 3 minutes. What a difference 30 seconds makes! The leaves sank to the bottom of the Gaiwan and the pouring off was now flowing off the leaves. The colour of the liquor was a deeper golden-red and the flavours were better developed, being more “mellow” in flavour than light of flavour. There were more complex notes with some discernable chocolate and maltiness coming forward with a light spiciness. The astringency sat in the front and middle of the tongue instead of at the back of the throat. There was a less “dry mouth” and no lingering astringency. The sweet notes could now be identified as caramel.

As excited I was that the tea had finally revealed itself, I now had to try the steep with milk as there are always people whose preference it to use milk with tea and will insist on using it sometimes indiscriminately on all teas from everywhere! However, it is perfectly alright to add milk to Yunnan black tea and is probably the only tea from China that is acceptable to add milk to. I noted that the colour of the Yunnan tea held strong when a drop of the milk was added and the flavour did not diminish nor was it enhanced. I did not take this tea up to 4 minutes but feel it would be alright if you have a preference for something stronger. This Yunnan is one stable tea and is one I can recommend to others easily. I was actually keeping my eye open for an easy-drinking tea like the Yunnan Silver Tip Choice. Its one you look forward to having with or without a meal, as a compliment to heavier dinner flavours or with a light afternoon tea service. It is almost like a “black Darjeeling” and I’d insist you try it.

You can purchase the China Yunnan Silver Tip Choice directly from the Grace Tea Company website.

Keemun is a variety of Chinese black tea, possibly China’s most famous.   The region centered around the town of Qimen, between the Yangtze and the Yellow mountains, produces mostly black tea.   Keemun used to be a component leaf in many traditional English Breakfast blends.  It contributed a smoky, rich character, while not imparting much bitterness.   Economics and politics led to most English blends toi use Indian and African sourced teas.  In China, Keemun is drank unadulterated, but also serves as a basis for a mid morning “milk tea” common in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

This Keemun from Adagio Teas, is a Mao Feng style tea.  Mao Feng denotes a tea that is picked with a bud set and two leafs of equal length – and is the preferred pick of most good quality teas.    Long thin. rolled & twisted black leaf, with a good amount of lighter tips, with a spicy aroma.  As it is a black, it is a one -steep tea:  1tsp/3g tea per 6oz water @ 205 F for 5 minutes. (Adagio recommends 212F, but I like letting the water cool a bit so as not to blast or scorch the flavor).   Bright & clear brown with a bit or orange in the cup.  Faint aroma of dark chocolate, with a hint of spice.  A light sweet flavor, with suggestions of cocoa, moderate body and almost no astringency.  Wet leaf shows the two leafs and a bud, brown in color, with a nice chocolate and spice aroma.  

It doesn’t have the smokiness I associate with Hao Ya Keemuns.   The Mao Feng is the first pick, and its emphasis is on the subtle flavors of the bud set.   Hao Ya is second pick, the pickings are separated by a matter of 7-10 days.  Both teas are finished in the same way.  It is amazing the difference in tastes of the teas produced.

This is a very good Keemun, very smooth and inviting.  This is the highest grade of the three Keemun’s Adagio offers, and it shows.   

You can purchase the Keemun Rhapsody directly from the Adagio website.