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!

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

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.