Kinnari Tea Xayaboury Laos Shai Hong (sun-dried black tea)

I'm behind on trying lots of teas; probably a good problem to have.  Anna of Kinnari Tea dropped off some when visiting Bangkok (mentioned in this post), and I've really been looking forward to getting to them.  Yesterday was kind of a long day, starting out with my relatively new practice of running (2+ miles, not far yet), and ending with a family Christmas gathering (prior to Christmas; I write these posts in two parts, making the notes along with later editing).  It will be nice tasting a "comfort tea," a style of black tea that I really like.

my wife (in purple) with two of three cousins, the two guys

the one on the right isn't mine; hopefully she didn't pick up any bad habits

These are never far off Yunnan blacks, teas from right at the edge of Yunnan (at least when similarly processed, given the tea plant types are so closely related).  That last version from Somnuc was great for being pleasant and novel; we'll see if this compares well to that.

Review

The initial flavor is a bit subdued; that was to be expected for this black tea type.  It should open up a bit and gain depth and sweetness across a couple more infusions, but this tea type gives up intensity in a trade-off to achieve a different aspect range, and to be able to pick up some depth and complexity across a few years of aging.  The aspects it already shows are nice:  soft, sweet, rich black tea sweetness, towards the dried fruit and light spice range that is typical.

Where that other Laos black tea I just reviewed has a bit of tree-bark character to transition off of, not musty, but earthy in a completely different sense, this is very clean in effect from the start.  Beyond that the general range isn't all that different.  I'll revise that general description to a flavors list in the next round.

The intensity really did pick up; this probably has one more round of opening up to really kick in too.  It seems to me that some teas describe better than others; some are so close to a typical, standard type and set of aspects that it would be easy to just flesh out finer details.  This one not so much.  It's not atypical for sun-dried black tea but those do vary, and the interesting character range, the style variations, doesn't describe well.

Fruit and spice still stand out most; I'll start with that.  A slight earthy dryness hits you just as quickly establishing the balance that defines the experience.

My tasting area just turned into a winter Lego Disney cartoon theme screening area, with Elsa and Anna in that video, so I was bumped to the outside tasting theme.  It's a nice reset.

As far as pinning down the individual aspects in this tea it's hard to separate them.  Fruit, earth, and that slightly dry mineral structure could be described in lots of different ways, and what you really notice is how it all balances together, not whether the fruit is dried cherry, dried tamarind, or if it contains citrus, or relates to roasted squash.  Maybe all of those; it's complex.  If there is any citrus that would be very mild, just a bit of dried peel to balance the rest.  It probably works as well to say it all tastes a bit like dried persimmon since I think that's closer.  The spice range might pick up more later; for now it's a faint trace of cinnamon.  The earthiness isn't too far from a tropical dark hardwood flavor.

The spice range did pick up on the next infusion.  Sometimes it must seem like I've edited those predictions back in later, right?  Except when they're wrong, of course.  Cinnamon does seem like part of the spice range but it also seems like a different aromatic bark or root component, I'm just at a loss for which.  It's not sassafras, the general taste in root beer.  It's not clove either, but the way that a more aromatic part works together with a richer, deeper range is a bit related to that in form.  The touch of dryness is nice, related to a warm underlying mineral range, which isn't pronounced.  This tea isn't astringent at all but having that slight edge fills in some feel range, adding to the overall complexity of the experience.

A little more fruit and sweetness might be nice but that could develop in the next infusion, or probably would within about a year to a year and a half if left to age.  It would probably be better yet after two, and maybe just fading after four.  Of course I'm guessing; I've tried a number of shai hong versions (sun-dried black teas) at various ages but if you don't try the same tea and track how it was versus how it is there's no piecing it all together.

(Next round) this overall balance is really nice.  I've tried versions with more fruit but this earthiness is good, and fruit balanced with a bit more spice range makes for a great effect.  This tea doesn't seem to be transitioning a lot as black teas go, but then the last similar tea I reviewed might have more for including a range of material types (adding yellow leaves; maybe varying beyond that), and the relative inputs of those may have been shifting.  This version is simple in character, as some teas go, but catchy in overall effect; every sip makes you crave drinking the next one.

I probably would have described this tea completely differently a year ago, or at yearly intervals, due to interpreting the same aspects in different ways over time.  To me it seems like I'm zeroing in on better descriptions that are more accurate, that would mean more to a reader, but I'm not completely sure of that.  It might just be a personal convention shift, a different form of interpretation of experience, more neutral in accuracy and effectiveness.

More of the same next round.  It's not really fading, and I went slightly longer to compensate for the round count (infusing it around 20 seconds, maybe slightly longer), so as a result I'm drinking this slightly stronger.  It's nice this way too.  The earthy edge that takes the place of astringency is a little stronger, but this tea is soft and approachable, just a bit complex, so it would work well even stronger.  Optimum is lighter, it balances well there, but it's not like sheng that often just doesn't work well outside of the narrower range for which it works best.


On the next round the tea is just thinning a bit; I probably went a bit shorter on infusion time, 15+ seconds instead, adding to the effect of diminishing.  From here the only remaining story to be told is how brewing it for 45 seconds to a minute to compensate for further fading changes effect.  Based on only one longer infusion earthiness picks up, shifting to a lessened proportion of fruit input, and even less spice, really, even though that somehow seems to tie to the dark mineral / dark aromatic wood underling tone more.


All in all it's a really nice tea.  It was definitely cleaner in overall effect than the last Laos black tea I reviewed, and probably a little more refined.  And more standard in character type / aspects range.  I think I liked that other one a little better for being novel, for the complexity taking an unusual form, and for fruit range being so intense, which is a good match for my personal preference.  This traded out some fruit for spice and other earthy range in comparison.  Shai hong can be subtle when first produced though, and this tea would probably be better in a year, and better again in another year after.  It's hard to factor in that potential in evaluating one since you don't get to experience it, until later, at least, if you have enough around for it to stick around.


This tea isn't separate from the range of Yunnan Dian Hong produced, not different in character or any lower in quality.  As with the sheng pu'er from Laos it's made in mountain ranges and from tea tree types (usually forest-grown older plants, but that would vary), that are continuous with those in Yunnan, with processing styles varying per individual practices, not separated by country borders.  This tea is probably a good bit better than the average version of "Dian Hong" sold by conventional vendors in the US; what makes it through would vary in character and quality level.  Yunnan produces most of their teas as sheng pu'er, because the demand is there for that, and the selling price also is, with some moderate quality versions being converted to shou pu'er instead (typically; of course that would vary).

Good luck finding any Laos teas on the Western market.  Beyond a resale vendor carrying Anna's (Google that), and one other mainstream producer (who's teas aren't quite this good, per what I tried of them, and not widely available in "the West" since they're not US or EU based), they're just not around.

Meeting online tea friends, and about tea swaps

Originally published as:  http://www.tching.com/2018/12/meeting-online-tea-friends/


Editor's note:  Merry Christmas!  It's odd posting about something else today, but the timing of the TChing post worked out to match up.  I'll share lots of cool pictures of the little elves soon enough.

I’ve long since talked to lots of people online about tea.  That relates most to writing a blog about tea, and being an admin for an international themed FB tea group, and now for a second, and participation in forums or a sub-Reddit and such.

That has extended into real life more lately, with three people just visiting here in Bangkok.  I’ll use that example to lead into how value-oriented purchasing could enable tea swaps.  Linking the ideas is a stretch, but it should work.  To keep it simple I’ll place the initial themes by visitor, and tie together the threads at the end.

Tea from Nepal

Narendra Kumar Gurung, the Nepal tea vendor setting up a co-op style processing initiative, sent some teas.  A contact of his, Sunil Sainju, was visiting Bangkok for a conference so he brought them.  Right away this doesn’t seem to relate to how someone who isn’t blogging or talking to producers might use a similar approach, but I’ll get to that.  I just reviewed a golden needle style black from those; very nice tea.

Meeting an online friend from Laos

There are just a few online contacts who feel a lot like real-life friends, even though I’ve never actually met them.  Cindy of Wuyi Origin stands out; we’ve never actually met but I’d trust her with my kids.  Anna of Kinnari Tea, who I just met, is another favorite.  It’s a little awkward adding that extra level of input about someone after only talking by message, but it’s rare that they’re not at all what you expect.  Anna is great. 

I didn’t try any of the half-dozen Kinnari Teas (Laos versions) that she dropped off but I already know that they’re fantastic, unique and high quality.  I gave her some samples of this and that, including some from Narendra (nice how it goes in a circle, especially shared with people who would appreciate them most).

Somnuc Amnousinh, another visitor from Laos

I’ve been reviewing very unique teas from Laos and Vietnam recently, mostly local versions of sheng (pu’er-style teas).  In this case passing on teas in return completed a tea swap.  Due to space limitation I’ll only mention one unique personal detail about Somnuc:  he speaks Chinese, Vietnamese, French, English, and Laos, and is probably fluent in Thai (which overlaps with Lao).  Very cool.

How this ties back to tea swaps

These mostly aren’t tea trades for me; more often people give me samples for blog review.  But I give away tea to anyone I think will appreciate it, not much quantity, but enough to try part of what I’m trying.  I think a related “swap” theme could apply to more people.

These three related tea sources aren’t exactly what I had in mind (and Somnuc doesn’t even sell tea), but still let’s use the other two as an example.  Someone could reach out to Anna or Narendra to try to buy tea, and even though they’re both not really set up as end-point retail suppliers as agreeable people they’d probably help out with that.  Buying samples off a wholesale vendor seems a bit unrealistic but one might decide to buy a ¼ kilogram of a few different teas instead (for example).

That idea comes from a vendor selling their own produced teas in a large-block retail form, from the Halmari Assam producer’s offering a nice orthodox Assam black for $25 per 250 grams (with their “oolong” my own favorite).  That’s the smallest quantity they sell.  Or Assam Teehaus is another co-op style producer selling similar teas, but that drifts off this theme.

Meeting Maddhurjya Gogoi and Bulu Deka (of Assam Teehaus), at the Jip Eu shop (with Sasha and Kittichai)

A similar approach might relate to a shared group-buy theme.  It doesn’t make sense to buy low quantities of teas from the other side of the world; shipping would cost as much as the tea.  The higher the volume the more that proportion balances back out.  Or someone with a kilogram (or pound) of tea, who doesn’t plan to just drink through it, could use it for trades for other teas, or for gifts.

There’s lots more that I could say about making tea-contacts online, or trying out other novel forms of teas, and limitations and potential problems with swaps, but that covers the initial broad themes.  This post on more direct producer sourcing might spark some other ideas, but only on the supply side.

Comparing silver needle teas from Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam

Doi Inthanon left, Kinnari middle, Hatvala right

I'm comparison reviewing three white teas, all presented as silver needle style teas, from Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam (from Doi Inthanon, Kinnari Tea, and Hatvala, respectively).  It's a bit much.  I've been on a comparison tasting cycle lately and may as well stick with that, since it helps place teas better than tasting them alone would.  I'll be dropping it before long, maybe for a couple more types then I will.

There is a cost to that, a drawback and trade-off to doing comparisons, which came up in a comment on the last review, comparing Darjeelings.  If the tea plant type or style is different then the review could be more about noticing the style difference than the relative quality level of the teas, and subjective preference description can work out the same, more about type than how good either tea is.

I try to make those factors explicit in the reviews, to clarify when I think I prefer a type-related aspect, or when a set of aspects is uniquely positive in a tea within a range of one style, but there's a limit to that.  With a God's-eye view of tea types, related typical aspects, and characteristics tied to quality levels that would work better, especially if every tea stuck to a clearly defined type, but obviously all of that don't match reality.  Teas tend to vary.  In a sense it really doesn't even matter how close these three are to an original Chinese white tea version anyway; I'm experiencing them in relation to how much I like the aspects, not judging them related to trueness-to-type.

This would be a good place to introduce the teas, perhaps with a few more words at the end about the standard type and differences:


Doi Inthanon (Thailand, outside Chiang Mai):  Silver Needle #12 Bai hau cha - tra trang

Kinnari Tea (Laos) Moon Buds

Hatvala Vietnamese Floating Cloud White tea Yen Bai


This review is mostly about how I experienced the teas, not that background about any standard.  No vendor really claimed these closely matched a traditional Chinese version, and I'm not the best person to judge how well they did.

Review

Doi Inthanon lower left, Kinnari top, Hatvala lower right

The three teas look and smell quite different.  The Thai tea is much darker, with much smaller buds ("needles"), and a rich, complex scent.  The Laos version is the lightest, with a sweet, light, fruity scent, and the Vietnamese version is just a little darker than that and sweet but with a bit more of a savory edge to it.

The taste of the "silver needle" tea from Thailand, the Doi Inthanon Silver Needle, is a bit intense, perhaps closer to a black tea range than white based only first impression.  Of course white teas can oxidize to different levels based on processing differences, and this seems to have more than most.  That's not a good or bad thing, taken alone, just a variation; that just depends on how well it works.  I'll need to use short infusion time for this tea to limit the intensity, the opposite of what I expect from the other two.  It doesn't look like a silver needle tea at all, with much smaller buds than is typical, and quite a bit darker.  The dry scent is sweet and rich, heavy towards molasses and other earth tones, so I think it has lots of potential, it just won't match the typical profile, and it won't be subtle.

Tasting it the first round will involve tasting past an astringency balance that's a little high, but it's still positive.  It has an interesting citrus high note that stands out, and a great mineral intensive structure at the base, with lots of earthy range below that, the molasses, in general, maybe just not exactly that.  There's really a lot going on; it's partly floral, familiar from their other teas, and that molasses scent seems related to a woodiness in this particular infusion.  It all could be a little much for a white tea drinker looking for some subdued floral tones and maybe a little melon or whatever else mixed in; this is a little intense.  It'll review better brewed very lightly though, so I'll get back to all that.  That astringency even reminds me of pine needle tea, nothing like the bite in many other kinds of teas, a bit unique, coupled with a sharp, piney flavor element that's not negative, just quite different.

The Kinnari Tea Laos tea (Moon Buds) is subtle, as I would have expected.  It's sweet and complex though, with lots going on too, just in a completely different range.  Part seems like freshly dried hay, maybe a little floral, and that sweetness may well extend into fruity character, not so far from melon, maybe that.  I think there is some bright citrus going on too.  That citrus is so light and bright it's hard to pick a match for it, along the lines of tangerine peel spray, that citrus oil that comes out when you bend a peel.  I think it'll be easier to review on the next infusion for the opposite reason; it will take another round to really get going.  That contrast is funny.  The lightness and brightness is nice; it's not just light in the sense of being subtle, there is a bright character to it that's not easy to describe.  Someone might say "freshness" instead but to me brightness captures it.  It's a lot sweeter, or will be, once I get both of these teas brewing in a range that works for them.

The Vietnamese version (Hatvala Floating Cloud) is warmer, richer, a bit fuller.  Again this infusion is a little light for this tea; it will be easier to pin down going a little longer.  That first infusion was a bit over 30 seconds, probably still less than 45 though, long for this Gongfu proportion, but kind of normal for these types of teas that need longer to brew.  Or really the Doi Inthanon tea didn't need as long as it steeped; we live and learn.

It might not be easy to pin down the richness of this Floating Cloud even with optimized brewing; the main element seems closest to pine nut.  To me that's a really good thing, but I guess maybe not everyone loves pine nuts.  For people that haven't had them they're rich and a bit sweet, with a distinctive flavor, not so far from macadamia nut but not exactly the same.  They're a touch less creamy, but still creamy, and don't give up anything in being distinctive.  The warm aspect in this tea isn't so far from the fresh dried hay aspect in the Laos tea, they just head out in completely different directions from there, one to lighter, brighter and sweeter and the other to richer tones.  This is cool so far, and these teas have hardly gotten started.

the initial set-up

Second infusion

I went with a short infusion for the Doi Inthanon tea, around 15-20 seconds.  I think I'll go with the nicknames for these, instead of location, but this was only called silver needle (or bai hau cha - tra trang).  It's light but it works.  The sweetness and brightness stand out more, and that astringency steps back to a nice supporting level.  To be more specific it's not exactly astringency; it seems to both be a "feel" dimension and a related flavor element that seems connected with that, again close enough to pine needles.  For pine needle tisane lovers out there it's not light and sweet like white pine or hemlock (which is not the kind of plant that killed Socrates, it just shares the name), more like a Norway Spruce, a bit heavier and more intense.  It's like a light version of pine pitch.

The tea being sweet too makes that work.  The floral is still present but lighter, and something along the line of wood tones fills in some.  It might all work better than "wood, pine, and flowers" sounds, although really there would be a lot of range within those three description scopes.  There's a bit of a sage-like spice aspect filling in between that woodiness and pine that's nice.  It would too good a tea for blending with, and crazy to use it as such, but it would work well for part of the flavors base in a soup.

The Moon Buds (Kinnari tea) is still a little subtle, brewed for the same time again, in the range of 45 seconds.  I just can't measure infusion times; I'm philosophically opposed to it, but my internal clock works well enough.  There's something catchy about this tea, which I'm not going to do justice to by putting names on aspects.  It's bright and sweet, but not in a way that's familiar.  Maybe I like it more since I've been into first flush Darjeelings that emphasize brightness and sweetness, even though the character is a little different.

I should brew it for a full minute to let it go stronger, or a bit over that.  The package says 95C, 3 to 5 minutes (or was that a 7?), and of course part of going shorter on time is that I'm using a relatively high proportion of tea to water.  After 3 minutes at this proportion it would be as strong as a mild black tea in effect, but really some people would still like that.  I don't think it has enough astringency in it for that part to become a problem, but the flavor balance shift would let earthier elements play more a role and that light sweetness would drop back into a continuum of other aspects more.  I'll try it though; I can't add more to description here based on this tasting.  It's vaguely floral and citrusy, perhaps with a touch of melon, but there's more to it than that.  As for which melon, that part gets complicated.  I hate almost all melons but I like this flavor aspect, but maybe it's as well I don't expand on how that plays out.  Maybe it's not melon anyway, something fruity but slightly different, off towards apricot or plum instead.

The Floating Cloud (Hatvala tea) is still sweet but more in a richer, warmer range.  I will go a little longer on these two and describe them further for a third round.  The Doi Inthanon tea could probably handle a 30 second steep but not longer.

Third infusion

Screw the philosophy, I timed that last infusion, 30 seconds for the Doi Inthanon tea, 2 minutes for the other two.  To explain that part more, to me timing infusions puts more process between the tea drinker and the experience, as much as it standardizes and optimizes brewing.  I get it, about more people probably going the opposite way on that, but I like the minor variations in preparation, they are as informative as they are pleasant to experience.  And reviewing teas already adds a thick layer of analysis and interpretation to trying teas that I find disruptive.  It's interesting to do it, on a different level, but take away this blog communication step and I wouldn't really care to split flavors and other aspects into concept-lists like this.  Back to that though.


The Doi Inthanon tea is right at a level of intensity that works.  From here it's more about the balance of aspects working out for someone or not than dialing that in more.  It's woody, and floral, a sweet type of floral, with a bit of feel and taste matching pine needle, so more of the same.  The level of sweetness makes that work, but it's not as sweet as the other two teas.  The Kinnari tea is the sweetest, and brightest, but also the most subtle.  It's tempting to say the Hatvala tea is in the middle somehow but I'm not sure experiential space maps out like that.

The Moon Buds is picking up some warmth and depth brewed stronger, not giving up much brightness, but that aspect range is diminished for sharing some space.  The depth it gains is more in the range of sunflower seed, soft and sweet, a little rich, but still light.  I think it's a floral tone I'm not able to capture in description, as much as fruit, maybe spanning both.  It would be possible to try and focus on that dried hay / sunflower seed aspect and try to pin that down further too, and possible to interpret that in different ways.  It's hard to imagine that being read as mineral or spice tone but it's not inconceivable, really, or maybe I'm just missing something else.  The tea is a little subtle still but complex.

I haven't been saying much about feel or aftertaste (anything about those, really), but for me comparison tasting goes like that.  It works out to naturally truncate description for having so much space to cover.  A 2000+ word tea review is a bit much to write or read, beyond that extra being lots to focus on when tasting.  This tea isn't thin, and the taste does linger after swallowing it, but doubling the infusion time again would surely thicken the feel and add even more aftertaste.  It's a preference issue.  I always disliked silver needle style teas for being too subtle and not having enough dimensions but at the same time I prefer them on the light side, a bit of a contradiction.  To me--not a given, we're on what I think versus any standard understanding on this, best taken with a grain of salt--it shifts the aspect range going longer by pulling out richer, earthier flavors, at the expense of the lighter aspects, which don't drop out, but they do get crowded a little.

The Floating Cloud is similar to before, brewed stronger:  rich, sweet, a little subtle but with lots going on, with both brightness and earthiness.  The sweetness is in the range of both floral tone and honey, maybe with a trace of citrus, and that pine-nut aspect moves out to cover more range, but it gets harder to pin down.  I think I wouldn't have liked this tea as much a year or two ago for not really embracing the experience of related subtle teas, but I'm better with that now.  I've been drinking a good bit of compressed white teas lately, two shou mei cakes and some random pressed white version, and those are quite different--sort of--but the general range is not so far off.  This tea is definitely brighter than those, and more complex, with more going on at that higher end, the floral aspect, but not as bright and sweet as the Laos tea.  I think it's a bit richer and fuller than the Laos tea, maybe in feel too, but I really mean in flavors aspect range.

Doi Inthanon lower left, Kinnari top, Hatvala lower right

Fourth infusion

To push the teas a bit I went 40 seconds for the Doi Inthanon tea and three minutes for the other two (timed infusions; but I'm not going to switch over to embracing optimized brewing all the time).  They would drink just fine brewed lightly but this should help show what's going on with them better.  A full five minute steep might work to identify more about the structure, or really delve into all they have going on, but it wouldn't match my own brewing preference, at least not at this tea and water proportion.

The Doi Inthanon tea is fading just a little, although it's surely far from finished, it would probably go any number of rounds past this brewed longer.  The pine stands out a little for the rest dropping back a little, and the lighter feel works well, otherwise it's about the same.

The Moon Buds tea doesn't transition much, but it does pick up more earthiness, probably both from a natural aspects progression and from going longer on infusion time.  That one "catchy" aspect does remind me a little of that AV2 Darjeeling character, the smoothness and roundness coupled with sweetness, brightness, and melon / light citrus character (or some other fruit I'm not "getting").  Or maybe I've just described a set of aspects instead, even if to me they tie together somehow.  All of those things almost come to a central presentation point in one distinct but hard to describe bright flavor element.  At the end I can say how the Kinnari tea owner describes it as a list; she's pretty good with such things.

The Floating Cloud moves into an interesting space, transitioning the most of the three, towards a sun-dried tomato sweetness, a sweet and savory tone.  That was actually present in the initial dry tea scent but I wasn't noticing it so much in the other infusions.  I wouldn't be surprised if it would be possible to pull out a completely different type of experience from this tea by going long with infusion time initially, and maximize the savory tone that way.  The Kinnari tea would pick up more earthiness range in such an approach too, whichever way that sunflower seed element would present itself brewed stronger, but the Doi Inthanon tea wouldn't be as drinkable brewed any stronger.  This might be a good place to close this, to move onto some final thoughts based on those vendor's input.

Additional

This will only make for a token aside about traditional style, not from the most authoritative reference on the internet, but the related Baiho Yinzhen article in Wikipedia (the Chinese name for the general type) points out something worth noting:


Two regions, Zhenghe and Fuding, spanning the north to north-eastern parts of the Fujian province are the major and original producers of this tea, although neighboring counties have also been producing.[3] The two major cultivars employed by these regions are Fuding Da Bai and Zhenghe Da Bai, named after their origins. These differences are important to distinguish the two major styles of Silver Needles — the Zhenghe style and the Fuding style. The former is usually a lot darker, with significantly longer piled-up time for oxidation, yielding a tea with fuller body than the latter style, which is generally lighter with shorter oxidation.[5] 


It wouldn't have mattered to me how much these varied from traditional styles, and I'm still not really pointing towards a connection in noting that, although a guess about plant types does follow.

Related to vendor descriptions, there is no vendor description of the Hatvala version on their site, but one does appear here (edited):


...from Suoi Giang in Yen Bai province.  This is a hand crafted tea that undergoes an extended sun withering followed by gentle stirring and drying... Made from leaf buds only harvested from wild tea trees that grow in the ancient bio-diverse forests at altitudes above 1400 metres... Floating Cloud is both elegant and complex and produces a delightfully sweet tea with notes of honeysuckle, sugar cane, walnuts and pine forest. 


None of the aspect descriptions match completely directly but the general description really does (eg. swapping out walnuts for pine nuts, interpreting sugar cane as honey).  I think the tea is quite good; the general impression matches too.

Moon Buds description (not as clear due to a branch in branding)

I didn't see any description of the Doi Inthanon tea, but this graphic lists some background on the Moon Buds version (listed as White Wings; it's possible different years' versions picked up different names, or it could just be a split in branding).  Again it sort of matches what I've described, just not directly.  Brewing it light I'd pick up less texture, although "buttery" is surely intended as a flavor here.  The mineral side would stand out more brewed even stronger too (I love "pebble" as a description though; I never can really sort out different rocks as aspects).  Citrus I'd mentioned, and the fruit I never did pin down, describing it as melon perhaps towards plum or apricot.  Incense:  maybe!  It really did have a lot going on.


It's probably as well to not stretch this out but I think all three are grown at significant elevation, with both the Kinnari Tea and Hatvala tea from older natural growth environments.  Not only would the Doi Inthanon tea be farm-produced (a typical row-planted, single, selected plant type) it's probably not similar in type to the other two.  I'd be speculating to say they are both from Assamica type plants but I think they are.  More "native" versions in the North of Vietnam and Laos are, per my understanding (only native in the sense of being introduced a long time ago, most likely).  That would explain the buds size differences, smaller for the Thai version, relatively similar in appearance for the other two, just a bit different in initial color.  So it's back to the idea of comparing apples and oranges I started on initially, related to the Doi Inthanon version, but then the review was clear on that in descriptions too.

All three were nice anyway, with a lot of complexity and interesting character from all of them, I just preferred the Laos and Vietnamese teas' styles more.  There was a time when the overall subtlety of those wouldn't have matched what I like in teas so well but now I'm more on that page, maybe not in terms of overall type favorites, but related to what I can really appreciate.  Those two teas were fantastic, so similar but so different, in different senses.  The Thai tea is still nice, well worth checking out, and positive enough that someone with a different style preference still might like it more, if having a bit more edge to the tea somehow seemed better.  As I mentioned in that last post related to Darjeeling types I tend to prefer oolongs and soft, complex black teas (Dian Hong and such), but it makes perfect sense for someone to like a bit more astringency than I do to balance other aspects.


One last aside:  I've been stocking up on gaiwans lately, so I now have three each of smaller and larger size versions for reviews.  I went with the larger ones for this tasting and it was a mistake; it took me all day to come down from the buzz of drinking around 18 cups of white tea.

Kinnari Tea Laos Earl Green

A Kinnari Tea Earl Green version!  Of course I’ve heard of versions of Earl Grey made with green tea but never got around to trying one.  I don’t drink that much green tea or flavored teas (blended or infused, any types), but since Earl Grey is an acceptable exception this may work.  I’ve tried jasmine black teas that weren’t bad, and a sticky rice tea from Kinnari Tea was a pleasant surprise, and Chiang Mai shop, Monsoon, did a nice coconut flavored green tea.  Osmanthus oolong can be ok, but some might be better without the osmanthus if the oolong is good.   


I’ll say a little about expectations first, a pre-review (something different).  I’d expect it to taste like green tea with bergamot orange oil flavor added, which is basically just the recipe.  The green tea might be a bit mineral intensive, not like Vietnamese green teas are, intense flint or limestone rock mineral on top of a vegetal tea, but likely subdued, maybe more like a sun-dried black or a really mild version of sheng.  I’d expect it to not be so vegetal, and not heavy on a toasted rice or nutty element, but with a bit more dried hay range than is typical for a green tea, and soft and light minerals.  All that is just a guess, from the looks of the tea and a description of the general style of the other types as much as anything.  Of course I’m also wondering how well bergamot orange oil works with green tea, but if those guesses hold up I won’t find out how it works layered in with grass or bell pepper flavors.

actual brewing was close to that, this time

After actually tasting it:  the tea is nice; it sort of works.  Of course it does taste like bergamot (orange oil, a specific type, so citrusy).  The green tea is mild, not grassy, not vegetal, no intense minerals.  The orange is a little heavy on the first infusion, or rather the tea is a bit subdued, since the orange is where it should be, but tea flavors pick up in the second infusion.  Altogether the flavors are sweet and bright and it all balances well.



I’m making it true Western style (really! ok, maybe just a little heavy on the proportion), even in an infuser device, which my parents gave me for Christmas, just to mix things up.  Using that device makes getting water temperature just right tricky because it would soak up lots of heat but I’d expect some guesswork to land that in about the right range.  I’d expect this will brew a lot of infusions, even for using a relatively typical Western proportion and timing, because of the tea type (just a guess, though, we'll see).

another gift, my kids call "ugly person" (in Thai)

It’s hard to review what the tea itself is like for being mixed with the bergamot oil flavor, so I’ll have to focus on how well it works together, the end effect, and maybe guess backwards to what it would be like alone.  They sent a plain green tea with the other samples, which I’ll review separately, but the style might not be exactly the same.  I was wondering going in if I’d even like “Earl Green,” and it’s fine, it works better than it sounds.


A bit more vegetable range wouldn’t be as nice, I’d expect, but this tea is soft and earthy, a bit subdued, so the only issue might be that that aspects range doesn’t stand up against the orange as much as a black tea might.  But they’ve adjusted bergamot strength to compensate, so it’s just a bit mild, in a lighter balance, brighter and less earthy.




The natural question that might come to mind is “why would they flavor this tea”?  Someone else might be an Earl Green type fan, and then they wouldn’t ask that.  For others, for me I suppose, it might be more natural to make it into a black tea instead, to oxidize it.  At least it is more novel this way.


On the third infusion I went longer and the bergamot and the tea taste both ramped up, but they were already in a good range for the last infusion.  It’s nice that somehow that proportion didn’t change, orange to tea flavors.  It’s not astringent, at all, just with a trace of edge to give it some feel, which works.



As with Vietnamese green tea standard practice (in Vietnam, at least) going with full-boiling point temperature water would bring more astringency out, but I’d as soon not.  The tea being this soft gives you the option of ramping up temperature, or experimenting with different ones.  They suggest 85 C, and it wouldn't be as biting as lots of green types when brewed cooler than that.  Some people could prefer an edgy green tea (the normal preference in Vietnam, per my understanding), and I suppose that softness could be seen as a flaw, if so.


Made a little stronger in this third infusion it’s possible to teas out more tea contribution / flavor from “below” the orange.  It is rich, and mild, but full, reminding me a little of the “cereal” element in the one white tea, the Silver Cloud.  There is a little mineral but less than I expected, even though I didn’t expect much, for it to be flinty.  You would think there would be some vegetable to be noticed, at least a little, but it’s more in the floral range, it seems.  It’s all a nice effect, quite bright and lively, clean and balanced, fruit and floral with mild earth and very light mineral as a base.  The sweetness helps support the rest.

A monk gave me some Earl Grey tea not so long ago, the standard Twinings version (odd how that works out, trading teas with monks, a long story) but there’s not much comparison to be made.  The bergamot is common, the rest is different, and the balance is quite different.  I think this still would work with a more typical green tea, something less soft and subdued, less complex, more grassy or vegetal, but it might be a lot better in this form.


The fourth infusion I went quite long for, and it is fading a little, but that seems fine, getting one light and three normal strength infusions out of a green tea.


I think if I liked green teas and flavored teas more this would strike me as a really exceptional tea; as things stand it was a pleasant change of pace.  It's just a matter of preference, not an objectively accurate evaluation, but to me the Sticky Rice Silver Cloud tea worked better.  Scanning back through that post there wasn't much there for subjective take, how I liked it, which is also relevant, even if that relates as much to preference for type and attributes as to a general overall judgement.  That wasn't just nice for being novel, which it was, but well above average compared to all the plain white teas I've ever tried.  I think I liked it better in part because of how well the flavors matched but also because that flavoring was very subtle, so that it really could have been a natural tea that just happened to taste a little like sticky rice.

they grow up so fast

Kinnari Tea Silver Cloud and Silver Cloud Sticky Rice (Laos white teas)

Going back through samples I'd forgotten I had so many teas I’ve yet to try from Kinnari Tea (good Laos teas; it doesn't get much more interesting than that).  It's around Spring harvest and production time now, so almost onto the next versions, but I'd like to say more about the others since they all look interesting.  The two I just tried are a white tea and a sticky rice white tea.  Another I didn't get to is a green-tea based version of an Earl Grey, and there's a pu'er style tea.  I'll get on all that.

I'll do the review first here (two, really), and get back to the vendor description of what the "sticky rice" component relates to.  Sticky rice is common enough here but I might explain what that is first.  It's formal name is glutinous rice, and sticky rice is considered by some to be a rough translation, but to me it's sticky rice.

The actual rice is like that:  sticky.  My kids love fried chicken with sticky rice as a side, and I often eat sticky rice steamed in a banana leaf along with banana and black bean.  I had that for breakfast yesterday; today it was fresh papaya with cashew nut toffee topped cake.  That rice tastes a bit neutral, as rice tends to, with the texture standing out more than the flavor.

This review will cover the plain "Silver Cloud" version first since I tried it first, then on to comparing the two.

the Silver Cloud (non-sticky-rice)

Silver Cloud review

The vendor description listed "cereal" as a flavor element.  Sounds different.  The whole aspect listing included "clean, delicate, energy, cereal, umami," with that last really coming into play in this review, or maybe more in the second tasting.  It looks like a typical buds-only silver needle / silver tips style tea, maybe just a little darker than some, which doesn't really seem to clearly mean one thing.  It could be oxidized a bit more than usual, but then that's not really even an informed guess, just thinking out loud.  More about the tea style will come up in the vendor description, at the end.

The taste is smooth, with a "round" feel, and a bit unique in scope.  Cereal really does describe a main aspect of it.  That seems to link up with the malt range, not the bold, sharp malt in astringent black teas, more the soft, approachable malt in a malted milk ball or milkshake.  It's not completely different than an aspect people tend to describe as pastry-like, but cereal describes it better for this tea.

There are interesting supporting elements, maybe just a hint of citrus under there, and different layers to that mild earthiness.  It's almost a little creamy, which goes well with that cereal, as much a texture as a taste, but a bit of both.

It's a subtle tea, as whites often are, but not subtle in the sense that it emphasizes body and feel as a main aspect and you need to struggle to pick up flavors, just more about defining what's going on.

I'm brewing it Western style using relatively long steeps, in the 4-5 minute range, versus going even longer as people sometimes do (so nothing like the vendor suggestion, based on checking that later).  One could probably achieve slightly different effects and the same ramped-up intensity using a concentrated Gongfu approach, a high proportion of tea and times varying based on preference.  It did change character brewing it Gongfu style when trying it again along with the other version; I'll get to that part.

On the second infusion flavors ramped up just a bit.  The citrus steps forward a little compared to that cereal aspect.  It had a relatively full body the first time, but now it gains even more of that, so it starts to match that structure / feel that occurs in types of teas, some part of it.  I'm not sure what other tea this reminds me of though.  Maybe it doesn't seem a lot like any other I've tried.  It's funny how far it is from those white teas from Nepal I reviewed not long ago, all three great teas, but very different in lots of ways.

I've been going on about how some teas are aromatic, versus emphasizing flavors, and this isn't about that.  It has a fullness that comes across partly in the feel.  I think some aromatic range helps fill that in, and contributes a little to the “complex” effect.  Someone really interested in aftertaste would surely shuffle that in there, but to me it’s only slightly interesting that some teas have tastes that linger, or even shift a little from what is tasted during drinking to a different related aftertaste.

The tea has a savory, umamai-range aspect to it but I'm not really having luck describing that in terms of a taste range.  It seems to combine into the other complexity, to sort of serve as a background for it.

On the next infusion it seems to shift just a little more.  It's hard to place but there really is some common ground between this tea and black teas.  Cereal is still present, but with citrus picked up and more subdued earth and mineral tones kicking in it's now complex in a different way.  Maybe there's a touch of that toffee type sweetness that can come out in black teas as well, which can be pronounced when you switch to brewing a bit off boiling point for a few infusions to going to full boiling at the end to ramp up the intensity.  But it's grounded in a white tea context of flavors and character, so much different.  The savory / umami element still isn't standing out tied to a specific flavor.  But then it seems possible I could re-taste this tea made exactly the same way and describe it differently, related to both that and other elements.

I'll cut this review description short and move on to how tasting it alongside the "sticky rice" version went, this time prepared using a Gongfu style brewing approach.

Comparison tasting the two versions

Silver Cloud left, Sticky Rice variation right (brewed lightly)

The ordinary silver cloud version is more savory than I remember it (from the day before yesterday; funny how that seems further back).  It's not a background element, prepared this way, it stands out as a primary characteristic.  There's a good bit of sun dried tomato aspect, an actual flavor related to that range, even brewed lightly.  Brewed a little stronger that extends to an earthy and mineral fullness, almost a trace of dryness.  

I'm wondering how much difference relates to a brewing approach change versus just variations in my interpretation.  I'm preparing it Gongfu style this time versus Western, using a higher proportion of tea to water and shorter times.  I'm stretching out the timing past the short infusion times for other types, not 15 to 30 seconds per infusion, but starting over a minute and moving up from there. 

The vendor advice for preparing both teas is the same, here shown on the sticky rice version label, nothing like I made these teas either time.  So much for making a science of this.

The dry leaf sticky rice version smells like toasted rice. Brewed that taste is actually in between toasted rice and popcorn, even just a little buttery, or maybe I'm imagining that part.  It works well with the rest of the profile.  It's funny how the Silver Cloud seems to emphasize that savory element a lot made this way but the Sticky Rice version not so much.  I suppose it's there as an underlying element but nowhere near the same intensity.

Both teas don't need to be brewed to a high infusion strength to get a lot of flavor out of them, so although I did ramp up the infusion time some rounds and try them made different ways they work well brewed lightly.  The effect changed a good bit between being brewed lightly versus stronger, more related to the feel and effect of the Silver Cloud version, that savory element.  That tea's structure (feel) also changed, and an underlying mineral layer contribution picked up.  The Sticky Rice version stayed soft, and didn't change as much at different infusion strengths.

The label description for the Sticky Rice version (above) lists coconut and spice, which I didn't mention.  Brewing it per the instructions might have shifted the profile a little (or a lot), and really just paying more attention might've helped.  I made this tea during a work-day morning, not the ideal time for a tasting, especially with a medium-to-high level of drama as background with two kids getting ready for school.  

To me a soft fullness, sweetness, and popcorn / toasted rice aspects stood out in the Sticky Rice version.  That last part sort of invokes an element in Longjing, but the rest of the character was nothing like that tea type.  Altogether it does make one wonder about preparation style and the vendor take on the tea, which I'll cover next.

sticky rice, black bean and banana (how to make it and photo credit)

Kinnari Tea input about these teas

Silver Cloud description (partial citation):

Gentle, bright yellow first cup, growing intensity of aroma and color over the subsequent infusions: cooked sweet corn, sacha inchi nut, young ginger root, and freshly baked bread. Lingering sweetness and balmy texture all the way through. Peaks of spicy briskness above 85°C and for long infusions.

... We recommend to start off at 80-85°C with an infusion time of about 2-3 minutes. For further infusions, time and temperature can be increased carefully - additional heat and time can release tannic bitterness and astringency from the bud, a desired quality to some, but not to everyone.

Silver Cloud Sticky Rice description:

... the leaves of a local aromatic plant are added, infusing the tea with the aroma of sticky rice cooked in sweet coconut milk.... Gentle, bright yellow first cup, growing intensity of aroma and color over the subsequent infusions. Dominant aroma of sticky rice cooked in sweet coconut milk. Background: cooked sweet corn, sacha inchi nut, young ginger root, and freshly baked bread.

Lots going on there, even though I skipped the parts about growing conditions.  The teas are from Paksong, in the Bolaven Plateau region, with more about the local growing environment in that content.  The sticky rice taste is from an herb; interesting.

I didn't pick up all those aspect they mentioned, but then the Silver Cloud did vary a lot due to preparing it two different ways.  I didn't get the impression I'd exhausted possible descriptions, or really took all the complexity in.  I hadn't read that description before tasting it but that "cooked sweet corn" description did come across as popcorn, that light sweetness in fresh popped popcorn, not the toastier effect if you pop it in a pan and cook it a little longer.  I don't know what sacha inchi nut even is; maybe I was tasting that.  The related range in the tea seemed similar to the mild fullness of macadamia nuts, for what that's worth.  

I guess the sticky rice aspect could've included some coconut character.  Although the taste of sticky rice is a bit neutral it's not that far off that, especially a toasted version of it.  Usually one doesn't prepare sticky rice as toasted but I re-warm that banana / black bean / sticky rice in a toaster oven, and if the time is set long those can brown a little. 

I won't segue too far into processing discussion, but that Kinnari Tea owner did make an interesting comment in discussion about that, related to the Silver Cloud:

depending on your definition of white and green tea, it could be considered as a single bud green tea, since it's very lightly toasted (dried over low fire on a hot metal plate).

So there's that!  Lots going on with those teas.  Not to beat up the point but I like white teas that you don't have to strain to taste flavor aspects in, that you tend to mostly "feel" instead, and these more than fulfilled that criteria.

Comparison tasting golden tips teas from Nepal, Darjeeling, and Laos

I happened to have three similar buds-only or mostly-buds black teas from three different countries, different versions of golden tips, so I compared them.  Two of them including some fine leaf material, or buds developing into leaves--and one not--is an inconsistency, but then lots of variables could change the results, and they're not supposed to be completely identical.  The point is only to compare similar teas, to taste how final results stand in the cup.  I tried a vaguely related black tea from Sri Lanka not so long ago but didn't have any on hand; probably as well since three teas is enough, and stylistic variations beyond origin differences are already problematic enough.

It's unconventional to compare teas from three different suppliers, stemming from the marketing function blog reviews serve.  This blog was never supposed to be advertising, that function and discussing tea just happen to overlap.  That makes for a good placement to mention that all three of these teas were contributed by the suppliers for the purpose of review.

In general I only review teas I like, since those are most interesting, although in discussing that scope with suppliers I'm clear on reserving the right to publicly express what I really think about any of the teas.  I suppose if a tea were bad in a really interesting way that could work for a post, like reviewing a ridiculously smoky lapsang souchong recently, perhaps due to chemical treatment instead of smoking.  That tea wasn't provided by the supplier; I bought it.  Typically suppliers provide nicer teas for review, so the most frequent concern is describing when preferences don't match a style, more so than for teas being bad or mediocre.  On to it then.

Himalayan Tea Shop golden tips (Nepal tea)

Rohini (Darjeeling) golden tips

Kinnari Tea Laos golden tips (Golden Flame)

The teas, and background

I've already reviewed one of these, a Kinnari Tea Laos Golden Flame (golden tips).  It's good.  The point here is to compare that to two others, a Golden Tips from Rohini Estate, a Darjeeling, and from a private vendor reselling teas from Nepal, the Himalayan Tea Shop.  Maybe interesting similarities and differences will turn up, for example comparison of region related (terroir) aspects.  Of course terroir can also refer to other things, to the effect of the specific micro-climate (eg. amount of direct sun, effect of fog), or the minerals in that particular soil, or to effects from other plants growing nearby.  A more experienced reviewer could say more about trueness-to-type, matching a typical range, than I'm going to here.

The Nepal vendor I'd mentioned in this post reviewing a green tea (a decent green tea at that).  That vendor's name is Arpan Khambu, essentially someone with a family business background starting to sell teas internationally on his own, a very small-business model.  That's an interesting back-story, one that would be more familiar for a vendor based somewhere like the US, but those circumstances change sourcing quite a bit.  In the future his business practice may evolve to include more information about the grower, including details about growing conditions (organic claims, etc.), but due to just starting out as of yet the related information that's available is sparse.

Rohini is a major Darjeeling producer, or really a sub-set of Gopaldhara, so there is information about them and their teas on their website.  Not about this particular tea though, since it is likely not a main production version, and that producer sells teas primarily through distributors, with only the main types described there.

I was surprised that Kinnari Teas had developed materials describing the teas in great detail, just not down to grower's photos and Google's coordinates of the farms.  Here is some background on the teas they are working with that I didn't get around to mentioning last time:


All our tea plants are grown from seeds from ancient wild Lao tea trees. These unaltered tea plants are perfectly adapted to their environment, evolved to thrive in this particular microcosm without the need for human intervention. In our highly biodiverse tea gardens, the collaboration of different plants, animals, insects, minerals and microorganisms ensure healthy and rich soils, no pesticides or chemical fertilizers are required. The tea plants’ strong taproots provide them with all the water and nutrients they need, while anchoring the soil on the hillsides. Each garden is a biotope: their cultivation contributes to the protection of the environment in rural Laos.  

Growing tea from seed and artisanal hand-processing also results in less predictable and more complex aromatic characteristics within one single garden and throughout the seasonal harvests. Like with fine organic wine, each harvest and each batch is an adventure and a surprise.

Interesting!  Someone with skeptical inclinations could reject that as less valid than an organic certification but it seems to really not be intended as standing in place of that, just a bit on context.  The part about genetic diversity of plants of course is a real thing, which leads to more questions about the differences between native types of plants grown through natural breeding versus use of clones (controlled breeding).  There's more on the general background related to this particular tea:

Southern China’s Yunnan Province is widely regarded as the cradle of tea, and famous in the west for its excellent black and puer teas. But plants don’t care about borders, and northern Laos’ geographical proximity to Yunnan can be felt in this exceptional tea from Phousan Mountain in Xiengkhouang Province, which echoes the renowned Chinese Dian Hongs...  Upon infusion, the tea releases rich aromatic compounds reminiscent of Yunnan blacks, but with a distinctive elegance.

That mention of Yunnan and Dian Hongs makes perfect sense.  These teas are not that far from versions I've been reviewing in the not so distant past (like this Farmerleaf autumn sun-dried Dian Hong).  

All of this about the Laos and Yunnan origins isn't to imply that Darjeeling and regions in Nepal are giving up a lot related to working with near-ideal high elevation growing conditions, or that great results couldn't be obtained from working with modern tea plant types or species evolved elsewhere.  It's really about the final results, and different good teas can be produced in different places, which is really the whole point of this tasting exercise.

Tasting

Initial color difference seems to relate to teas including only buds (the Kinnari tea) or fine tea leaves and buds.  That will likely shift flavor profiles a lot, and change the effect of brewing times.  But then it's not science, just a comparison tasting.


The Nepal version (Himalayan Tea Shop; I'll just refer to these by country designation) is nice, darker, sweet smelling as a dry tea, and complex (they all are, really).  The initial taste is in the cocoa range, a bit subtle, sort of malty, but in that softer sense of that flavors range.  Malt is sort of complex anyway, not so definitive, but cocoa and malt describe most of the initial range.  It is nice and clean across that range, with a bit of bright citrus helping the profile.

The Darjeeling version (Rohini, a plantation associated with Gopaldhara, owned by them) is nice too, in a similar range, again malt and cocoa, maybe malt with cocoa versus the other way around.  The mineral structure below that seems to stand out more but it's still quite soft, and definitely not astringent, not even significantly "structured" versus biting, if that makes sense.  It might be the earthiest of the three, pulling a little towards wood tone, maybe even a hint of mushroom, but not in a bad sense, that clean tasting woodiness some wild mushrooms have.

The Laos version (Golden Flame from Kinnari Tea) is more subtle at the same parameters, without addition of some fine leaf content that would allow it to brew out as quickly.  It's more cocoa in the range of chocolate instead, that sweetness extended into those types of richer tones, maybe with a little brighter citrus tone mixed in.  Being more subtle offsets comparison a little; it might make sense to adjust brewing process since it may brew out slower.  I'll go a second infusion at the same times and judge that.

left to right:  Kinnari Tea, Rohini, Nepal tea

On the second infusion the Nepal tea is really nice, that cocoa and malt balancing even better.  Citrus is also there, with some spice tones joining in, close enough to cinnamon.  The sweetness is good and the feel is nice. There is a citrus element, a very light ruby red grapefruit (as a taste only; there is no bite / edge as from even mild grapefruit, just that warm sweet range is there).

The Darjeeling is in a different range, woody, maybe towards cedar, again with cocoa as dominant and plenty of malt (so maybe cocoa even picked up a little).  It's still nice, just different, it trades out citrus and spice for wood tones.  There is a lighter trace of citrus too but a different citrus, more toward bergamot.  The flavors are nice and clean.  It had seemed that woodiness could drift into a less cleaner over-all flavors range but it didn't work out like that.  That hint of wild mushroom transitioned to clean wood tones.

The Laos tea does seem to brew slower, so I'll be tasting it as a milder tea without adjusting to add time.  The proportion could also relate; going just a little heavier would add to the infusion strength.  This tea will probably last longer too, being only buds, or it might transition less later since the other two will see the fine leaves give out while the buds take more time to do that (at a guess).  The flavors are nice, again malt and cocoa (common to all of these), with citrus, and a light woodiness that's not the same as in the Darjeeling version (the Rohini).  That tea is more in the range of cedar, and this is really something that may be more like hay, it just covers the same range.  The last review also mentioned raisin, and between the more dominant cocoa and citrus underlying aspects could be sorted out as fruit, that raisin, or as malt (sweet malt, as in malted milkballs; there's nothing dry or mineral intensive about this tea, the standard pairing with other types of black teas profiles).

The citrus aspect may be the strongest in the Nepal version, or maybe it's that the spice tone adds to that sort of aspect effect, with those two sort of defining a "top" range, of sorts.  It's interesting the way there are so many comparable elements in these three teas playing out slightly differently.

On the third infusion the Nepal tea doesn't change much, maybe just a little nicer.  That cocoa, malt, cinnamon, and citrus integrate well together.  The other "earthy" range is more dark wood than mineral, or just a bit off cedar towards something darker yet, but not at all murky in effect.  The malt sort of has that brightness and complexity it seems to have in very different black teas, just not paired with astringency at all, and with different flavors altogether.  The spice tone (close to cinnamon, but not exactly that) covers range out towards coffee, just a mild version of it, a light roast, I guess.

Rohini plantation (photo credit)

The Darjeeling is moving into a richer, earthier range.  Without trying that Nepal tea just prior it would seem a lot different, brighter in comparison, with some of the same general aspects filling it out (cocoa, malt, citrus).  Due to direct comparison with the Nepal tea just prior a heavy, earthy tone stands out a lot more.  With that comparative bias going it seems a little towards a shou or aged pu'er, that dramatic, but once you adjust to tasting it on it's own it's nothing at all like that, just earthier.

Is all this clear?  It's covering similar cinnamon / coffee complexity range as in the Nepalese tea, just earthier, more centered towards a dark wood, and it seems the difference stands out more than the rest of the common flavors profile--most of what comes across--due to comparing the two teas.  It wouldn't be unusual for someone to attribute that to something else, peat, autumn leaves, mineral range, or something else, but it's clean and integrated, not "off" in any way.  The tea works well.

The Laos tea is more subtle than the others, again with part of that down to brewing parameters issues, trying to brew teas that aren't identical in the same way.  I can taste around that, and let it sit a little longer next time.  As with white teas this seems a little like tasting a silver needle style against a bai mu dan type.  Of course there is less complexity for including one type of thing instead of two (buds versus leaves and buds).  I think I'm biased towards that more complex effect, in general for both types, related to tasting these and for those white teas.  The opposite preference would also make perfect sense; it's subjective.  The tea is great though, as I just reviewed separately.  Cocoa, malt, hay, citrus, and fruit make for a nice profile, and it's quite clean and well presented.  It's possible to ramp up infusion strength different ways with brewing, it's just not possible to add more elements that aren't already there, and those aspects and balance are nice.


On the next infusion the Nepal tea is still similar, picking up just a touch of dark caramel tone.  I would expect it to start tapering off a little from here but who knows.  The Darjeeling version stays clean, with dark wood still pronounced, maybe shifting a little closer to the Nepal version, starting to come across more in between spice and light coffee.  It is a little more earthy than the Nepal tea.  The Laos tea is just hitting it's stride, bright in effect and picking up more complexity, but then it had already been complex.

not so related, but she does love tea

I think I'm liking these teas a lot more for calibrating my expectations to the range more, for appreciating them as a bit subtle (compared to leaf-only black teas).  It didn't hurt that two versions met me in the middle for including fine leaves in addition to buds, more familiar to me and a better match for my preference, that additional complexity.  And all three are really nice teas; that helps.


I suppose I am describing them in such a way that the Nepal tea sounds better, and I do like it better, slightly, but the Darjeeling is quite close in aspects range, so they are more similar than different.  The differences stand out a lot more for trying them side by side; tasted a month apart it might be harder to distinguish the two.  The Laos tea has a different effect going, brighter, in a slightly different range, but it's also nice in a different way.


It's odd the mineral aspects are so subdued in all these teas that I've barely mentioned them.  It must be an underlying element of the flavors context, part of the reason they come across as complex, but quite subtle for all.  I like the way the dark woods / spice range is doing more for the two more Himalayan teas, with different citrus higher notes supporting the more dominant cocoa for all three.


On the next infusion I think all the three teas are dropping back a bit  The same elements are there but they're thinner, and would surely keep getting thinner.  Based on the tasting last time that Laos Golden Flame really is able to go more rounds than one would expect, staying consistent across longer infusion times for a number of extra rounds.

lower left Laos, right Nepal, top Darjeeling

The spent leaves look a little different but the Nepal and Darjeeling versions aren't so far apart, more a slight color difference, with the Nepal leaves just a little darker.


That was interesting!  A word of caution about comparison tasting golden tips style teas:  the level of caffeine in these feels substantial, with that effect going a bit far given how many rounds I tasted through.  It took a good number of hours for that extra level of tweak to wear off.