I just finished a great interview post with background on this tea producer, which I'll post not too long after this review, given how editing issues work out. So I won't say much more about them; it's there.
I've tried really good, seemingly type-typical yellow teas from them, and two somewhat unconventional Dong Fang Mei Ren versions (Oriental Beauty, or local interpretations of that style). In the past I've reviewed Maojian from the same Thai tea contact, that would have been from them, but the posts may or may not have tied the sourcing back to them, and in a sense it doesn't matter. They were great, even though green tea isn't my favorite type, or really it's my least favorite. Somehow I've always liked Longjing anyway, and those green teas were fine.
This should be great. The only background is that the sample said that it won an award (these were provided for free for review; many thanks for that). I asked Gisele, that friend who works for them, if their teas are grouped by consistent brand versions, and the answer wasn't a clear yes or no.
As tea enthusiasts familiar with general background would know it's not really easy for producers to make versions of the exact same tea types every year, produced at volume, as companies like Lipton do. Lipton puts a lot of effort into balancing inputs that vary, so even with year to year variations in quality and style they can adjust for that through a complex blending process. Some other medium scale tea producers try to do the same, but in general it's the tiny, direct sourcing vendors that describe each tea as a variation related to the same version from the year before.
I'll try to link to what looks most like this tea online, in the Wanmu site information, but it may or may not be completely identical. I'm not claiming that they imply that the listing represents this tea; this award-related version may well be a unique one-off. One listed won an award, but different versions could have won different awards. Here's a black tea they identify, again which may relate to a higher volume production version, or simply a different batch:
Craftsmanship • Xinyang Black Tea
Craftsmanship Xinyang Black Tea is made from carefully selected tender buds and leaves of top-quality spring tea from high-mountain tea gardens. It is refined through the withering, rolling, fermentation, and baking processes of Xinyang black tea. The tea buds are compact and covered with golden down. The tea soup is bright golden yellow with floating tea hairs. It is smooth and mellow on the palate, with a rich and mellow aroma, and a refreshing and sweet aftertaste!
 |
not so far off, but seemingly not an exact match, related to appearance |
This image showing an award certificate and the tea looks more like that one (listed on the site), with more buds content, and that part being redder than the rest of this sample.
The context is a little different for a producer than a re-sale vendor. Producers might try to make different batches for sale in different channels, while small-scale vendors, or even medium scale outlets, might try to make branding themes as consistent as possible, carrying one each of a limited number or teas with a distinct theme.
Review:
dry scent: this is as fragrant as any black tea I've ever smelled, or I suppose any tea. To me sweet floral and fruit range stands out the most, but there is also a strong cacao note. The buds and leaves are very fine, very small; this might share some aspect range with Jin Jun Mei as a result.
first infusion: color is a little golden-amber, versus just being reddish. Oxidation level should be lower than a most typical range.
Interesting! Honey sweetness stands out most. There is a cacao note to this, but there's a lot going on. Floral range is pronounced, across a rich, sweet, heavy floral scope. Fruit doesn't stand out as much as that, even though the scent implied that it would. Warm tone range is very pleasant. Feel is rich and thick, with a pleasant aftertaste carrying over after. All of this is from a relatively fast first infusion, just a first look at the tea, not how it will be after full development.
It's hard to emphasize clearly how that full, rich, thick feel and pervasive sweetness serve as a foundation for the rest. Black tea mouthfeel range varies, but this is unique. That sweetness actually tastes like honey was added, even though for sure it's natural. Mineral range is warm (I've not mentioned that part yet), but the input is limited, helping balance the rest, instead of being a dominant aspect.
second infusion: mineral intensity bumps up a good bit. This may peak at a more evolved character range next round; it still may be transitioning to get there. Sweetness still stands out a lot, with the flavor of honey fading just a little. Floral range is so pronounced this probably tastes like two or three distinct flower inputs. One part is rich and intense, like lavender. Another is warm, smooth, and towards more subtle grain-like range, like chrysanthemum. A hint of citrus enters in, not so pronounced, but at the same time distinct. It tastes like tangerine, both the actual fruit and that tangier edge of the peel.
Feel is slightly drier, with just a little more structure, but still very positive and full. An extra touch of fruit may add to overall complexity, along the line of jujube, dried Chinese date, and the prior cacao is also still there, a bit stronger than that fruit note.
The way it all balances is really something. None of those aspects are remotely negative, and they come together as a symphony of flavor and tactile experience. It's good, really exceptional.
Not just to look for any possible negatives, but it might be helpful to describe how this relates to my primary preference for black tea. I mention here a lot that I love Dian Hong the most, Yunnan black teas, for a number of different reasons, and related to simple preference that I can't explain. I love the depth and complexity in those, even though they sometimes give up some high end range, the forward floral or brighter fruit this is also expressing, in addition to those deeper tones (cacao, warm dried fruit, supporting mineral tone). In those it often relates to a roasted sweet potato or yam aspect. I suppose if someone used their imagination part of that would also relate to this tea; it's really complex.
So does this work as well for me, related to that preference? It's more complex, more layered, interesting in terms of including more experience scope. It has good depth. I think in a sense I also like the simplicity of those teas, that even though they're not as complex and refined that makes them easy to appreciate. There is less to love but what is there expresses depth.
I can't conclude that I don't like this as much, because it is such a pleasant and unique experience. But drinking this tea with food at breakfast wouldn't seem appropriate; you would tend to have it when you focus on the experience. Which is great, when you are on that page. But there's something magical about drinking through lots and lots of a more basic favorite black tea version, that includes good balance and great depth, but not those extra themes, not so much complexity and refinement. It's comforting. You can drink it for a half an hour or hour and then not really focus on the tea, and let it take you on an inward journey instead, or just relax, and decompress.
third infusion: cinnamon enters in as a main aspect; it's amazing that it could transition like that. A high degree of transition is one thing, but the tea adding dominant, positive aspect range like that each round is really something. Maybe the bud and fine leaf content is releasing compounds more each at different phases (infusion rounds)? Rich fruit also picks up. What seemed like a hint of citrus across other deeper tones now comes across more as cooked peach. Of course cooked peach, cinnamon, and other rich, creamy depth is a lot of the description of a peach pie.
Permit me a tangent. I was experimenting with different flavor combinations during an extended pie cooking phase in my youth, in my early 20s, and settle on peach and cherry as a favorite (for a time; that kept changing). I mentioned that to an older co-worker, and he thought it was funny that I described a very traditional Southern pie version, that his mother and grandmother had made (we were in Texas). If you can make a butter and flour crust and go buy frozen peaches and cherries I highly recommend giving it a try.
Warm tones continue to evolve. Cinnamon connects to that, but there's a hint of other bark range as well, maybe a cured hardwood bark flavor. To me it balances well with the rest, the brighter and creamier range, so that I'm not describing that as a flaw or limitation entering in. It ties to that slightly drier or more substantial mouthfeel I had described. You can emphasize or limit those kinds of inputs simply by raising or lowering brewing temperature (higher draws out heavier flavors), or by extending the infusion timing. I'm brewing this relatively fast, for no longer than 15 seconds, because the character and intensity is so pleasant right at that strength.
fourth infusion: it finally stops the sequence of changing a lot each round; this isn't so far from the last. It's a nice place for it to level off. Cinnamon is a dominant aspect now, but cacao also hangs in there. It would be natural to include roasted sweet potato as a reasonable interpretation. Rich floral range didn't drop out but cooked fruit tones took over. I suppose this does taste a bit more like roasted sweet potato than cooked peach, so it is still changing, just not as dramatically, since the total balance doesn't shift as much. I'll describe one more round and consider it a story fully enough told, infused a little longer to see how that changes it.
fifth infusion: citrus bumps a little more again; interesting. The rest is starting to combine more, so it's harder to make out as those distinct flavor inputs. It's surely far from finished, and it will probably make another 5 good infusions, but this round could represent the best of the tea already experienced. It's interesting how that aftertaste expression works, how citrus really stands out as a distinct note, beyond the warmer tones. It's almost as if you experience that part along the center and back of your tongue. I have no idea what that means; I suppose it doesn't really mean anything, it's just interesting.
The feel really balances in an interesting way too. I think there were subtle transitions in the feel all along these 5 infusions. And this goes back to explaining how simple, basic, good tea with great depth and moderate complexity can be pleasant in a different way. This tea demands your full attention, because there is so much going on. That's great, for a tea review tasting, or a session with friends, when they're all focused on the experience as well. For a mixed group with some non tea drinkers included sticking to something more basic would be better, to dial down the stimulus level, and not include so much complexity that you'd probably miss related to turning up the background noise.
The neighbors are doing construction here; that works as an example of a less than optimum input. Drilling into concrete, it sounds like? It's normal for me, at least, since they're half a year into that construction project. But in general this tea might be ideal for when you have free time and no construction noise to enable focus.
Conclusions:
What about that moderate oxidation level; would this have been different, or better, if it was a little higher? It's not my place to guess, but I don't think so. I think they've dialed processing into an optimum, landing in the same place the best Jin Jun Mei processing tends to favor. It could be that a higher than usual proportion of bud content brews to a different color than leaf content, but I'm guessing that oxidation level is a part of it, keeping it slightly lower.
It doesn't matter; the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and this tea is fantastic. It's odd that the only potential limitation might be that there is too much to pay attention to, too much complexity, too much round to round transition, so that it would only work best when you give it plenty of focus. Of course that's not really negative. It's almost like I'm complaining that it's too good. It is one of the better teas I've ever tried, not just better black teas.
Related to that quality assessment I mean that some aspects tend to stand out as either individual quality markers (indicating where a tea stands, by just one aspect), or as emergent sets of aspects in relation to overall quality. This stands out for both.
An individual aspect marking quality might be thickness of mouthfeel, aftertaste range, or unique and distinctive flavor range. Positive transitions across rounds are a good sign, or an appropriate mineral base flavor matching and grounding the rest especially well. An emergent range marking quality might be complexity (covering a lot of aspect range), balance (with sweetness balancing with the rest), or refinement, the last relating to how it all comes together. All of this extends beyond lacking flaws. This tea version excels in relation to all of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment