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My last order included a tube of this tea. Pretty exciting I’ll admit, because it was my first non-Chinese loose hongcha. It was also the first good quality hongcha that wasn’t Congou Rustic (another great one).
To the point, this is a very bold tea. It has a spicy aroma and the flavor is vibrant. Spicy, perhaps. I’m bad with taste/smell adjectives. If I had to style a “breakfast tea”, from what I’ve had I’d pick this one.When drinking tea at home, sometimes I will make 500ml in a large stoneware tea pot and strain into a measuring cup for serving (usually to myself, my roomates are uncultured barbarians!). However, this takes extra time and I am not always patient, so I am typically using my gaiwan on most evenings.Being lazy, I leave the leaves (English…) in along with the water and drink from there. This works with many teas so long as you get the duration and ratio right. The White Peony Gold 2011 I received in the same order is gloriously ideal for exactly this. This Nepalese tea, however, is not. It isn’t a tea to be trifled with at all and it really dislikes being overbrewed – “stewed” if you will.In a pot it’s great. So long as you don’t oversteep it takes on a strong flavor but is still enjoyable. It seems like an ideal hongcha to be adding other things to, as I predict you should still have a great tea flavor along with what you add.I’m under the impression that this tea is related to Assam, but the production methods are better. This is probably why it tastes so bold.On the whole a great tea and it isn’t particularly expensive either. I like it’s visual appeal unbrewed, shot through with the “golden” tips within the darker ones. One observation I had, though, is that once brewed and unfurled, many of the leaves looked roughly handled, being cut up or broken looking. I’m not certain if that is the norm for SFTGFOP style teas, though, at this price point. It probably contributed to the bold taste.Verdict: Get this for a spicy and energetic hongcha. It would make a great base for flavoring if you are so inclined and packs a lot of flavor to the sip.M. -
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It is! I somehow forgot to mention that (and link it) above. Going to fix that shortly.
As to the White Peony Classic Floral, I haven’t yet gotten that one. White tea in general seems more “friendly” to sitting longer, that is while it can “stew” the result isn’t heavily unpleasant. Peony forms seem to be the better within the white tea spectrum. Further experimentation might prove otherwise, though.
M.
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