A wonderful black tea. Both the dry and wet leaves are intensely fragrant. From the finished tea drink itself, I detect some unusual aromatic woody notes that some Taiwanese black teas have, but the flavour is dominated by raisins and oranges, with the floral notes mainly in the aftertaste and aroma. It's delicious. Soft, oily texture, not what I expected from a red tea to be honest. Very fruity, hints of overripe blood orange, grapes and some peach on the finish, the latter quite impressive. Very unique, would recommend to all tea drinkers.
Plant variety.-- -- /wp:paragraph -->
The meeting of Taiwan and Yunnan in a cup :-)
Sweet, smooth and incredibly fragrant. Menghaitian is located 20 km north of Puer town, you could say it's the "most boring" place in Yunnan, with nothing to see except a power plant... until you see what's hiding in the hiding place. What at first appears to be a swamp can sometimes hide an oolong tea plantation,
that's what we learned in Menghaitian.
We found this abandoned plantation on the tip of Li Chao Yuan, the maker of our Yingpan Shan black tea. He managed to get fresh leaves from this plantation last spring. Some of these abandoned gardens were acquired by the locals and they grow a tiny amount for themselves every year. Mr. Li processed the tea at his Yingpan Shan factory, using a traditional Yunnan black tea processing method.
The result is outstanding, it is rare to find Qingxin "oolong" tea processed in this style. When brewed in a mug, the fragrance easily fills a small room, just like a rock of oolong or other fragrant tea. Yet, it has a thicker and more pronounced oxidation than a typical flowery, honeyed Taiwanese tolong (Mi Xiang or our Hong shui oolong teas), despite the leaves appearing purple and green.
You'll notice that there are no buds on the leaves. That's because farmers let the "clusters" fully develop and pick off the top three leaves, which are considered adults. Traditional oolong style.
If you make your tea gongfu style, you will be able to make many brews from it. Unlike most other Yunnan black teas, this one is softly brewed, pushing out the brewing time quietly, even for early infusions. You can also finish the tea steeping with longer steeps, as the tea never becomes bitter. That's why I brew it on busy mornings by putting a pinch of tea in a double-walled glass thermos, pouring 90-degree water over it and off I go. I sip it on the way.
A wonderful black tea. Both the dry and wet leaves are intensely fragrant. From the finished tea drink itself, I detect some unusual aromatic woody notes that are present in some Taiwanese black teas, but the flavour is dominated by raisins and oranges, with the floral notes mainly present in the aftertaste and aroma. It's delicious. Soft, oily texture, not what I expected from a red tea to be honest. Very fruity, hints of overripe blood orange, grapes and some peach on the finish, the latter quite impressive. Very unique, I recommend it to all tea drinkers.
For a general overview of red, or black tea, click here.
How to make tea
To make tea, use soft water with a low mineral content. Keep the temperature between 85-95 degrees. Start the tea brewing at the lower temperature and gradually increase the steeping time proportionally. Use 15-30 second infusions to start with. For a 150 ml device count 5-7 grams of tea, depending on individual taste, feel free to experiment! It's best to use gaiwan to make it, but you can also make it in a European device.
