Sun Moon Lake Assam Black Tea, Lot 363 by Taiwan Tea Crafts

Some of the biggest tea leaves I done ever seen! 

Spider legs! These are big fat spider legs that “poing” out of the spoon when I try to measure the correct amount of tea… I love Butiki’s PTA (Premium Taiwanese Assam). I will miss it. I have used Butiki’s demise as an excuse to order all the assams (and a few other teas) from Taiwanese Tea Crafts, and this is one.

According to their website, this tea is a lighter version of Indian assams and they are right. Although my mouth tastes malt and raisin at the same time for the primary notes, they are a mid cup note, that added with a touch of deep cooked cherry and prune, makes for a flavorful assam without the weight of heavy malt. Malt takes the back seat to the fruity notes and delivers a obviously Taiwanese assam profile.

How does it compare to Butiki’s? It’s a lighter flavor profile, but still very much identifiable as a relative to PTA…a cousin perhaps? Not sure yet. I’ll have to try to not be such an impatient and greedy tea drinker and measure out the huge twisty gorgeous smelling leaves a little better next time. With teas as good as Taiwanese Assams, patience is obvious a virtue that I lack!

Soula Assam from Golden Tips Tea

Soula Assam from Golden Tips Tea

I am on a quest to find my "perfect" assam.  This is a challenging journey, as unlike Chinese black teas, most single estate assams are a bit more uniform in their flavor profile....which is why I love them in general.  There is something about their wholesome malty goodness that makes a standard favorite cup of morning tea in my home.

Soula Assam is a true representation in the beautiful ways of assams.  The dry leaf smells strongly of warm malt with a touch of dried plum.  There are few golden tips in the medium length dry leaf, which is fine with me today, as it's a chilly morning and a deeper malt tea is exactly what I'm hoping for to chase the chill away!  Soula Assam does not disappoint as a chill-chaser.  The deep malt note is a solid base for the slight fruitiness and mild astringency that this tea offers.  I immediately went back for a second cup to verify the smoothness, and it was still there.  This is a very easy to drink assam, with a straightforward flavor profile, round mouthfeel and ability to take milk exceptionally well.  Soula Assam from Golden Tips Tea is a lovely example of what a single estate assam can offer to someone wanting to move beyond the teabag.  If you are just beginning to explore assams, this is a great place to start.

You can find this tea here: Golden Tips Tea Soula Assam

What-Cha Irish Breakfast Black Tea

I had hopes for this Irish blend....especially after tasting What-Cha's English black blend tea and finding it quite lovely and complex.  Dry, this leaf is intriguing, with it's deep dark assam leaves mixed with twisty ceylon and the green touches from the Nepal tea that create this blend.  The smell from the cup....well, this is not your typical Irish Breakfast tea.  What-Cha has taken the concept of a tea that has a notoriously heavy flavor profile (which is why we who like Irish Breakfast teas love them to begin with!) and updated it with a briskness that balances the bottom notes with youthful abandon. There is beautiful deep malt and cocoa as bottom notes that are joined  by mid notes of a green wood spiciness and a lingering apricot top note that gives this tea a long malty sweet finish.  The true beauty of this blend's finish is held in the buoyant briskness that the ceylon brings. The deep lovely malt and cocoa notes are not lessened by the briskness...they are enhanced....brought to a fuller, rounder mouthfeel than most Irish blends possess.  There is a touch of astringency to the cup, but it is just enough to make you look forward to the next sip.  Which is hard not to do.  If you are a black blend drinker, give this one a try.  It is a captivating alternative to what you're used to.

You can find this tea here.

TeaVivre's Superfine Keemun Mao Feng Black Tea

TeaVivre's Superfine Keemun Mao Feng Black Tea

Just when I think I won’t taste another Keemun that I could love as much as those who have already stolen my heart, here comes another one.  Teavivre’s Superfine Keemun Mao Feng consists of wiry little black leaves that smell of sweet dried fruit and light earthiness. After a 4 minutes steep at 200 degrees f, the liquid is a beautiful amber color and smells of molasses and moss….and it gets better!!! The taste of this tea is much like the leaves… delicate, balanced and completely captivating. It is breathtakingly aromatic, with gentle notes of forest moss, the sweetness of dried fruit and molasses and a touch of light toasty grain to round the flavor profile out. This tea is smooth, fragrant, and not to be missed! 

You can find this tea here.

Flavors: Grain, Molasses, Moss, Peach, Stonefruits, Toasty

Second Breakfast by Whispering Pines Tea

Second Breakfast by Whispering Pines Tea....and ghostie. 

I love good black tea blends.  What I mean by "I love good black tea blends" is that I love good tea in good tea blends.  Because Whispering Pines sells so few straight black teas, and all I have tasted have been to my liking, it was easy to know I would like this tea.  

Second Breakfast dry leaf in incredibly chocolatey smelling.  Not cocoa.  Chocolate.  The chocolate note joins with the sugar cane quality in the Ailaoshan black tea to give a strong scent of warm chocolate syrup.  Wet, the leaves unfurl long and beautiful.  The liquor of Second Breakfast is a warm amber brown that smells of earth and chocolate and a touch of dark stone fruit.  In the cup, the keemun's earthiness mutes the usual boldness of the Ailaoshan black.  It expands the base flavor profile of this tea so much so that there isn't much going on the middle of the cup.  There is some grain and a touch of malt as a middle note, which is a pleasing combination with the earthy chocolate bottom note.  Top note is a dark stone fruit and a dark forest floral note.  Nothing bright in this cup, but nothing overly dark and brooding either. If this cup was a forest and you were Lil Red Riding Hood, you'd continue on your way to your grandma's house. The audience wouldn't be waiting for a big "BOO", and hopefully, when you got to grandma's house, she'd have a lovely large cup of Second Breakfast waiting for you.  Warm, earthy and comforting, it is a good cup of tea with a lovely deep flavor profile.  

You can find this tea here. 

TeaVivre's Yunnan Dian Hong Gold Tips

TeaVivre's Yunnan Dian Hong Gold Tips

Yunnan teas were a big discovery for me.  It didn't seem possible that leaves that were golden and smelled like apricot could ever be hearty enough to measure up to a black tea.  BLACK tea. You know, that had black tea leaves.  Boy, was I wrong.  Yunnans, with their wonderful flavor profile of sweet potato, cocoa and apricot, have become one of my favorite teas....and this tea from TeaVivre is a perfect example why. 

The dry leaf of this tea smells of apricots dusted with cocoa. There is a lovely luster to the leaves that lets you know that it's fresh tea. The leaves are long and golden and practically begging to be put into the cup!  So in they go, and wet, the aroma of the leaf is a sign of things to come in the cup...

There is something different about this tea…yes, very yam-skin (more earthy than just yam), yes some chocolate….but behind the honey smoothness of this tea is a different note that I haven’t associated with Yunnan before….there is a wonderful note of ground nuts that is settling in-between the other typically Yunan notes that makes this different than the others I’ve tried. Nuts. It’s definitely a middle note that brings that wholeness of this smooth tea together. Nuts. This tea has no astringency, which suits me on this warm morning with an empty tummy. Nuts. Or am I just…. nah, that’s too easy. Highly recommended.

You can find this tea here.

What-Cha Yunnan Fengqing Golden Buds Black Tea

What-Cha is a small business in the UK that has some very interesting and unique offerings for tea drinkers. I am a true fan of of most quality Yunnan teas, and this tea is certainly one of those.

What-Cha Yunnan Fengqing Golden Buds Black Tea

Surprisingly, the dry leaf wasn’t actually as tippy as I though it would be, considering the fragrance coming off the leaf! The dry leaf is long and twist…the kind that won’t stay in the teaspoon and you’re never quite sure that you’re measuring properly because it won’t go IN the teaspoon. But I’m not going to complain about that quality in any tea! Notes of cocoa, apricot and yam were gentle but present in the dry leaf. Wet, the leaf is long and beautiful, leaving a golden amber liquor in the cup.

This tea has the same wonderful notes that make me a true fan of teas from this region: dark cocoa, earthy sweet potato skin, a touch of raisin….but this tea also has a woodsy note that some Yunnans have. It’s the taste that reminds me of long-forgotten secret places and old trees that should be visited with reverence. The earthy yam skin and cocoa notes give this tea a beautiful base to balance the raisin and woodsy note on. There is a slight apricot top note, but the strength in this tea lies in it’s deeper notes. Overall this is a well balanced cup of tea, with no astringency and a medium well-rounded mouthfeel that is worthy of a tea drinkers favorite thing….quiet contemplation and enjoyment.

You can find this tea here.