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Farmerleaf purple leaf black left, Hien Minh right |
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labeling; this Vietnamese tea is from Ha Giang |
I'm comparing a Farmerleaf 2018 "Zi Juan" purple black tea (the leaves are purple, the processing style is just Yunnan black tea) and a Hien Minh (Hanoi shop) 2019 black tea, which is from Ha Giang province in Vietnam per the label, in the far North beside China.
Again comparisons here are for different reasons, sometimes to highlight minor differences in two similar versions, sometimes to use one standard version as a type or quality level baseline for the other, and in some cases just to get through more range in limited weekend tasting sessions, when I get behind. I don't think it will shed a lot of light on either of these, resulting in as much a style contrast post as anything (based on different leaf material, growing regions, processing, tea age, etc.). It will be interesting to see if a general impression of one is more favorable.
It would've made more sense to compare this Vietnamese tea to a Northern Thai version I reviewed a few months ago, but I'll just try them together sometime without the note taking process.
The Farmerleaf tea is sold out, but this is the description listing:
This tea comes from Menglian County, about 40km North West of Jingmai as the crow flies. Mangzhong is a Dai village located close to the county city, at an elevation of 1000m. The plantations were established in the early 2000's around the village.
This tea comes from the Zijuan varietal, also known as purple tea. It is a cultivar selected for the high amount of anthocyanins in the tea leaves, which give the leaves its purple color. Such mutation can appear naturally in the usual assamica varietal of Yunnan, and is also more prevalent in some wild tea species.
Apart from its unusual leaf aspect, the zijuan cultivar features a very special fruity aroma, which comes out very well when the leaves are allowed to oxidize. This black tea displays this cultivar's fragrance, and is therefore quite different from the typical Yunnan Dianhong made of seed-propagated Assamica...
Hien Minh can also be reached through Facebook, and again Pop (Danittha) provided product listings to cite. I don't think this tea is one of these, even though it's closest to the first, but at least that covers some general scope of what they're offering, which includes plain teas and blends:
Citing health benefits (in those descriptions) can be a bit of a red flag, since researching how well grounded hearsay claims are in better reference materials isn't reassuring, but I tend to ignore marketing themes anyway. Background locations and information about cultivars or processing steps can be interesting, but in the end how the tea turned out is more relevant.
It's a little odd that the Farmerleaf version might well have been better in the middle of last year (if it was an oven-dried version, which isn't really clear), and the Hien Minh 2019 might well be better next year (if it's actually sun-dried, which seems likely). A little more on that tied to character aspects occurs in the review. Black teas are fairly consistent year to year, as types go, so it's less of a factor than it would be for many other tea types.
Review
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Farmerleaf left; darker leaves and lighter brewed liquid |
Farmerleaf 2018 Zi Juan purple black tea: it's definitely different. To me tartness is something of a least favorite black tea characteristic, since I prefer warmer, richer tones like fruit, cocoa, roasted sweet potato, and so on, and this includes some tartness. It's in an unusual form because usually that's on the light side, dominating a flavor profile, and this is softer and warmer, but still a little tart. Beyond that there's the usual black tea complexity that could be interpreted in different ways, warm tones that don't stand out so much as leather versus dark wood or spice at this point, some floral, and so on. I'll cover it more next round, as it develops.
Hien Minh 2019 Ha Giang Red Tea: definitely different; no significant tartness; much warmer and richer in general range. There is a touch of cinnamon spice, not the main flavor element, but it stands out. The warm range is complex, but it could be more distinct. It probably includes a range of related flavors, making it come across that way, some dark wood along with that spice and some malted grain as well.
Second infusion
Farmerleaf: it's better; tartness faded and intensity picked up, as well as flavor complexity and depth. Sheng really needs a round or two to develop but other types can change a lot over the first couple of infusions too. It's a shame when those rounds are much better than the rest but usually it goes the other way.
It's warmer in nature, leaning a little towards a spice aspect now as well, just not clearly cinnamon or anything else. The hint of tartness (mostly dropped out, but still present) reminds me of dried cranberry, or maybe that along with other dried fruit. A hint of savory range is closer to sun-dried tomato, an addition that works well with the rest, integrated, and lending it complexity. Other flavor complexity probably relates to floral tone, but it's non-distinct.
As to feel and aftertaste it's full enough and not thin, but black teas in general give up a lot in this range to various sheng or oolong, in general. I don't prefer them as pronounced aspects enough for that to diminish the experience as long as they don't come across as too thin or limited, and this doesn't. It's pretty good black tea. Sweetness and balance works, complexity is ok but not really well above average, the overall flavor effect is clean and rich. From there personal preference determines how well it all works.
Hien Minh: cocoa really kicked in. Any impression at this point would relate to preference for or against cocoa in black tea, which I do like. It's a bit richer and fuller than the other tea version, with more depth and complexity. Probably leaning into warmer flavors with a main aspect I like versus being a little tart is biasing my interpretation, even though I just mentioned completely separate aspect range, how complex or rich in feel it is versus what the flavor range covers.
If this is a sun-dried tea I'd expect flavor intensity to be limited, it covering more depth but being a bit thin in terms of that, which would develop more over the next year or two, and some of that pattern may hold. The flavor range is good but the intensity and the higher-end sweetness is a bit muted, a toffee or molasses like taste.
To be clearer on general impression both of these are very nice teas, just different in style and expressed aspects. Both could add a bit more aspect range here or there to be even better forms of this general range of tea, but both are good examples that are easy to appreciate and like.
Third infusion
Farmerleaf: warmth might have picked up, adding a little more flavor towards cocoa or cinnamon than the other floral and prior dried fruit aspects, with those others fading. It's complex in a limited sense but it could be more complex, and flavors could be more distinct.
Hien Minh: cocoa still stands out but it transitioned into a slightly musty range, adding a touch of tree-fungus aspect. It usually goes the other way, that aspects like that fade out over the first two infusions, versus picking up in a transition later on. It's not storage related, which would seem clear even if the tea wasn't essentially brand new. It's still quite nice but less positive.
Fourth infusion
This will probably be a good place to leave off. I'm brewing these at high proportions, and for moderate times but not short infusions, towards 20 seconds. They could be stretched for another infusion or two but late-round tapering off isn't an important part of the story.
Farmerleaf: this is definitely fading but still pleasant, still hanging in there for another positive round. It's not changing beyond thinning a little, with the range that is present still nice.
Hein Minh: the mustier aspect faded away already; odd. Cocoa is still pronounced, and warmer dark wood tones, floral, etc. That one sun-dried tomato aspect, quite limited in relation to other flavor range, still gives this the effect of being a more complex tea than the other. If this really is a sun-dried version it will probably pick up some sweetness and flavor aspect intensity over the next year or two and really shine.
Conclusions
Both nice for what they are, different styles of black tea, both typical of Yunnan versions though. It might be that the character of the purple leaf material could match my preference better, ending up with it being described less positively. It seemed more floral than fruity to me, beyond tartness matching some fruit range.
It was interesting to try, well worth it for a moderately priced version. Given that Farmerleaf sells a broad range of black teas (when they're stocked; they tend to sell out) trying a round of samples and then later purchasing what you like best makes sense, just without too much delay.
I'm finishing editing this post just after doing some hei cha tasting, and of course other types keep coming up, and to me black teas and oolongs form my natural preference range, which has evolved to include liking sheng and shu as well over time. Hei cha versions can be fine too, and white teas can have their own appeal, but good Chinese black teas really stand out as a favorite basic type.
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I never did mention an ankle sprain here; at least I have a good nurse to help out |
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