Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Brown Liquor’

The initial scent I get from this tea reminds me of a darjeeling…light and a bit spicy. In fact, this almost seems light enough to be a bit reminiscent of some green teas that I have had. Steeping it for three minutes with just-boiled water, I’m greeted with creamy aromas from the golden-brown liquor. Despite being a little too eager to try it, and burning my lip on the first sip, once I wait and get in a (safe) first sip, I am delighted by the result. This tea is indeed creamy, just as the Canton Tea Co website describes. I am not so sure about the caramel notes, but I suppose I could see where one might pick up hints of those. To me, this tea has just the slightest bit of a malty aftertaste, creating an impeccable flavour.

A resteep of this tea brings about a much-subdued, yet still flavourful, brew. This is most definitely one of the best black teas I have ever tasted. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it 90/100. On top of that, I would definitely recommend this as one of the must-try teas for lovers of black teas.

You can purchase the Bai Lin Gong Fu directly from the Canton Tea Co. website. Save 15% right now when you use the code LEAF at checkout! Save 15% right now when you use the code LEAF at checkout!

The Grand Tea company is a tea company that I am growing some respect for. I’m even asking to review their tea, so that is a good sign that they have something of higher standard to offer. Generally, pu-erh tea that comes from the Xishuangbanna mountains of Yiwu in Yunnan, China is considered to be of high quality. The 2009 Yang Pin Yiwu Pu-erh tea is made in the form of a tea cake. It is considered to be “sheng”, a raw or uncooked tea, naturally fermented and is aged a little bit more than 1 year. Aging removes much of the bitterness. However, with such a young cake tea, we can expect some bitterness. Grand Tea describes this tea as medium hard pressed, with a fresh and flowery aroma.

The sample was 11.5 grams and contained not only leaves flaked off from part of the cake, but there were also a few pieces showing the layers of the cake. This gave me a good feel and a visual reference for the quality of the cake. The smell of the sample was delightfully fragrant and floral for a pu-erh, with a high note of leather and other complexities.

I wanted to use my Gaiwan rather than a Xishing teapot as I don`t have one strictly for pu-erh yet. I poured off the initial two steeps as that is required for pu-erh tea to both wash and rehydrate the tea. I used half of the sample or 5.5 gram in 100 ml water for 15 seconds on the first drinkable steep and 10 seconds on the 2nd steep but a little less water as I wanted it stronger. My notes from a pu-erh specialist say to use 7 grams in 100 ml water and I tend to agree. I noted the golden brown liquor and that there was a slight earth smell. I examined the wet leaves and compared them to another blend, noting the size of the leaf in comparison was smaller and chopped. I made about 6 steepings and sampled each one to check on strength of flavour. It did not give up its flavours too soon so this type of tea is perfect for sharing among others with confidence.

As for tasting notes, this tea isn’t totally young but isn’t the damp foresty pu-erh you get with aged tea either. It has the mild sourness of a younger pu-erh, but is also transitional to a more mellow naturally aged tea. It has a unique floral note that sits on the tongue after the bitterness dissipates. There is also a fullness in the mouth that gives this tea another dimension of enjoyment. It`s rather interesting to think the manufacturer has made the decision to sell at this point because you can either drink this tea now, or tuck it away for another few years, perhaps sampling it at intervals to see what characteristics are developing further. However, it remains to be seen if a few more years would actually develop this tea. I think the delicate floral flavours may be compromised by time. I like the packaging as well. If you are going to have a cake around for a few years, you’d want it to look a bit artistic with some elegant calligraphy, rather than with cold industrial printing. As this cake is not a tightly compressed as other traditional tea cakes, you may want to turn to a more highly compressed cake for long-term storage purposes.

The price of this tea is 400 gram cake for $16. USD and is very inexpensive, making about 60 servings from a 7-gram, remembering you will get multiple steepings. I recently paid more than that for 50 grams of pu-erh. Go ahead and get a stack of 5 cakes for $96. You’ll enjoy this for while or give the cakes as gifts to those who appreciate sheng pu-erh. Drink this tea alone to enjoy its qualities and remember to smell the warm empty cup for the floral aromas.

You can purchase the 2009 Yang Pin Yiwu Pu-erh directly from the Grand Tea website.

For the preparation and consumption of this tea, I used a small, 6 oz. gaiwan and boiled water.

What struck me concerning the leaves of this particular pu’erh was that some are whole, while others are chopped, ripped, and torn. This typically is not a good sign, as ripped and chopped leaves tend to “steep-out” faster. The smell of the dried leaf is vegetal and green…a leafy smell, not grassy. A bit loamy.

The first thirty second steep produced a medium brown liquor, with a soft smell. The earthy flavour bursts in the mouth, but it brings with it some distinctly rough edges. The aftertaste of this first steep is strong, but the but it has a weak forward taste.

The second thirty second steep brings with it an earthier smell that is also smooth and deep. The tea bites a bit on the aftertaste leaves a hard flavour under the tongue. The flavour of the tea is still full, but not strong. One feels that this steeping is relatively light.

On the third steeping of the same time as the others, the smell is “dirtier” now. The colour is a golden brown, and that bite has almost completely gone away. The flavour is smooth, but a bit weaker than before. This tea certainly lacks forward flavours and much “personality.”

I go on to steep it three more times. The fourth is much thinner and lighter; the fifth is no different; and the sixth, which I left sit for multiple minutes, barely changed anything.

I would give this tea an 88/100 on my personal enjoyment scale. The aftertaste really was quite pleasant. A tea such as this goes to show that age is not everything in a pu’erh.

You can purchase the Year 2000 7542 Pu-erh – Dry Stored directly from the Grand 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.

To begin this review, I have to say that I’m a bit of a sucker for pu-erh sold in bird’s nest form, just because I think it looks really cool. However, I will attempt to not let this affect the bias of my review. Soooo, without further ado…

The dry tuocha smelled dark, dark and rich. Its very earthy scent had a touch of spicy notes to it as well. Wet, it had spicy and tobacco tones about it.

I chose to infuse this using multiple short infusions of about 30 seconds each.

First infusion: The liquor was still very bright and clear, a light brown in colour. It smelled faintly of the dry tuocha. The taste is very light, and I wonder if 30 seconds is not long enough. It certainly does taste earthy though. It is not as spicy as the smell led me to believe.

Second infusion: This time, the brown liquor deepened and darkened in colour, while maintaining its brightness. The scent is now very earthy, with almost a bit of fishy smell to it. Mmm, the taste has deepened. Full-bodied, the liquor tastes earthy and mellow. It goes down smooth, as though it barely brushes the tongue and throat.

Third infusion: The colour of the tea is now a deep brown, nearing dark chocolate in colour. The aroma has not changed much, but the flavour is much stronger and feels more mature. Very delicious at this point. I am quite enjoying this tea and I wonder how long this tuocha will last.

Fourth infusion: This cup was just as enjoyable as the third and had the same strength and characteristics. It seems as though this tea could certainly continue with more infusions. When I have more time, perhaps I will give one of these tuocha a test of how long it can last.

I loved being able to try this tea as it continued to grow and mature in taste and aroma. I truly cannot wait to drink it again. I rate it an 85/100 on my personal enjoyment scale!

You can purchase the Pu-Erh Tuocha directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.