Mi Lan Xiang and old bush Wuyishan black / red teas

 

I'm reviewing two teas from Moychay, provided by them for review (in part related to helping with editing, but still, many thanks!).  

I've been using their samples (they sent a good bit) as comparison for other "local" South East Asian teas, but it will be nice to just compare two of them instead.  All the other versions were good.  There were some issues related to them matching the standard type form perfectly, to trueness to type.  When a tea is made from wild origin material that seems to automatically come up; the starting point in the material itself varies (at least one of them was, and maybe two).  This concern led me to write about that theme separately, about trueness to type, in another post.

For a market-style vendor like that buying in significant volume and selling at moderate pricing could also be issues.  Of course I'm not going to overthink any of that here; I'll just describe the teas.  I'll add their product descriptions after writing the tasting notes.

Before that, the type-typical theme largely drops out here.  I would've had comparable teas before, but I still come in without the pre-determined expectations of a main set type.  It might come down to whether or not these express tartness, which I really don't care for in black teas, typically.

Honey Orchid Black Tea (105 Euro or $121 USD for 50 grams; that seems wrong, doesn't it?)

Grown in the highlands of Meizhou, Guangdong at 800 meters above sea level, this black tea comes from old bush tea gardens using the Phoenix Dancong cultivar. The gardens are free from pesticides and chemical fertilizers, relying instead on natural forest humus and ecological pest control. The Phoenix cultivar naturally carries the honey–orchid aromatic profile that gives this tea its name.

The tea is handpicked as one bud with two leaves during the early spring, when the tea plants have accumulated nutrients throughout the winter. The fresh leaves are processed using traditional black tea techniques. After natural sun withering and indoor resting, the leaves are gently rolled in bamboo machines, fermented in a high-humidity room until the signature honeyed aroma emerges, and slowly baked over wood fire to lock in flavor and aroma.

The dry leaves are wiry and dark with golden tips. The brewed liquor is clear and orange-red, with a rich honey fragrance and soft orchid notes. The taste is smooth, sweet, and lingering, combining depth and elegance.

Over $2 a gram for black tea?  That seems wrong.  50 to 80 cents should be the normal high end range, and any vendor charging over $1 / gram is usually messing with you.  If a tea type is rare enough and demand is high enough then the cost would climb, with no real ceiling on that, but a black tea couldn't be good enough for me to see that as decent value for anything.  It was pretty good, but there is no pretty good value related to that pricing.

I can clarify what I mean by that by citing a comparable listing from another favorite vendor, from Wuyi Origin (a business ran by a family who I'm friends with a member of, Cindy, to be clear about potential bias):

Wuyi Origin Mi Lan Xiang Black Tea 蜜兰香红茶 (2026)  ($17.60 for 50 grams, so 35 cents a gram)

Mi Lan Xiang, or “Honey Orchid Fragrance,” is one of the most celebrated cultivars of Phoenix Dan Cong. While most Mi Lan Xiang teas are crafted as oolongs, this unique version is processed as a black tea, combining the fragrance of Dan Cong with the richness of Wuyi-style fermentation. The result is a rare and elegant expression that blends the sweetness of Phoenix Mountain with the smooth body of Fujian black tea.

This 2025 harvest comes from Daping Village, where the 40-year-old Mi Lan Xiang bushes grow naturally in clean, high-altitude gardens. The leaves are fully fermented on-site to preserve the honeyed aroma and smooth mouthfeel. The liquor is rich, mellow, and entirely free of bitterness. As soon as it is brewed, a soft sweetness fills the air, reminiscent of warm honey and ripe fruit. It is a tea that soothes and delights in equal measure.

Comparing a highly atypical, high quality producer direct source is a little unfair.  These types of sources barely even exist, as Western facing outlets, but when one does it has a competitive advantage, for selling their own unique teas without any middleman resale costs.  But this is the right range, just on the low side of cost, for what that tea would be.  Normal vendors would sell it for 50 cents a gram or more, instead of 35.  Just as a guess, for as good as I expct that it probably is more than 50 cents per gram pricing would still be normal.

Maybe within Europe it's a problem to buy directly from China, in lots of places.  There are import duties to be considered, and testing protocols for imported goods.  This citation is not offered here as a competing option, more to identify the normal pricing range.  It probably is a fairly similar tea, but then one would have to try both to compare them.

Black Tea LAO CONG HONG CHA, Old Bush Red Tea from Wuyi Mountains, Chinese tea from Wuyi, Fujian Province (Red Tea), 60g (12 Euro or $14 for 60 grams)

Old Bush Red Tea is produced from 40-year-old Meizhan and Shuixian tea bushes in the southern foothills of the Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province. The tea is cultivated at an altitude of 500 meters in from 2006 year certified sustainable agriculture tea gardens that are part of a 4000-acre estate managed by the producer.

Harvested in April and May, this tea is hand-picked, focusing on two or three leaves per sprout. The leaves undergo a traditional black tea processing method, including withering, oxidation, rolling, fermentation, drying, and refinement. The result is a tea with tightly rolled leaves and a robust appearance.

When brewed, this tea yields a bright red liquor with a sweet and mellow flavor, characterized by notes of caramel and a rich, full-bodied texture. The unique processing reduces polyphenols by over 90%, creating the distinctive red hue and smooth taste associated with black tea.

This costs just over 10% as much as the other version.  Could that first version pricing be a site listing error?

The first version seems better in quality level (related to trying them before adding this section), and Dan Cong material is in pretty high demand, but that pricing still seems wrong.  At 50 cents a gram it would be a costly tea, and at $1 / gram at the top of the high side, for the normal range.

Review:

Mi Lan Xiang Hong Cha / Honey Orchid Black Tea:  a little tart.  This tea is still fine, very exceptional.  Floral range is unique, heavy and distinctive, but also clean and refined (at only the first infusion).  Maybe that does taste like honey orchid; it's hard for me to tell, even though I've drank a lot of Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong.  The tone is warm, so it leans a bit towards lavender.  

A fruit input is really exceptional.  It's not far off peach, which does come up a good bit in Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong, but it might also have a citrus edge.  It could be broader than peach, including a bit of apricot as well (or maybe it's more apricot, with a touch of peach).

Feel is good, balance is nice, and refinement is a strength.

Lao Cong Hong Cha Wuyishan / Old Bush Red Tea:  not as intense, but this seems to express more depth.  It includes cacao; that's nice.  And more of the roasted yam / sweet potato / butternut squash range.  I'll try more of a flavor list next round; these flavors integrate, so it's hard to separate them apart.

This seems to be framed along the classic more forward, sweeter, lighter flavor aspects (the first) and a version including warmer tones, more mineral, and lots of depth (this tea).  The first includes a touch of tartness, which means more to me than it probably does to most people.  

In general I might like the second more, since Dian Hong is my favorite type (or rather it's the other way around; Dian Hong is my favorite type because I love the experience of depth and certain forms of complexity in black tea).  But it's not as good, in at least one other sense.  This Wuyishan version includes a limited enough forward flash of flavor and sweetness that it might seem like a gap, at this stage.  But then this is only the first infusion.  And it stands out a lot more for it being brewed alongside a tea that emphasizes that initial floral hit.

MLX #2:  this falls into a great balance.  All of the tones warm a good bit, and tartness backs off.  The intense floral range moderates a bit, but there's still plenty there.  It's not easier to separate the flavors into a list this way, but the complexity balances well.  It still includes warm floral tones, which probably does include rich orchid flavor, and fruit, now emphasizing a warm mineral base more.

One bright tone stands apart from the rest, and gives it a nice counterbalance.  It's like that juicyfruit gum flavor, or not too far from teaberry.  Or given this context one could interpret that as floral range instead of fruit, even though I've done the opposite here.  

Feel is good.  It includes a hint of dryness along with the structure, but that doesn't come across as a flaw, in the type and level, along with the rest.  It just has an astringency structure, which works.  It's still a soft and rich tea, nothing like a more challenging version of Assam, even within the better orthodox whole leaf range.

Wuyishan:  this is softer and richer, with more depth.  Again the flavor range seems to express a gap; there is a lot of warmer, deeper tone, and some more forward flavor (cacao?), but it's not continuous along the entire range in between.  One could interpret part of this as tasting like soft and warm malt (ovaltine or malted milk ball, not Assam malt).  Something along the line of roasted sweet potato fills in flavor depth.  But in between that initial flavor hit and the depth that comes later there is a short pause in the experience.

Brewing this stronger would offset that effect.  I've brewed these for 15 seconds or so, not long.  Intensity is still pretty good (they're brewing at 7 grams per 100 ml gaiwan), but I expect the profile would seem to "fill in" at a higher intensity, for this version.  The other was already intense enough.

Someone more critical of this tea's character might say it tastes like cardboard.  That's partly right, but it's an effect coming from heavier mineral and limited somewhat earthy tone.  I would imagine that positive or negative bias would have one "seeing" either the better parts that work well or else what might come across as gaps or flaws.  I try to see it as it is.

It's a bit strange but I tried mixing the last of both, to see how it would merge and blend.  In a limited sense it is better than either version, but it's also less distinctive and interesting, so in another sense both lose what makes them work.  

MLX #3:  I gave these just over 20 seconds this round, to see how that changes them.  This version had been intense using a shorter time, so it may be a little strong.  

It is.  That works though; the pronounced warm floral tones really pop, supported by pleasant fruit.  I think this is just what someone would be looking for in a Mi Lan Xiang black tea version.  Even that touch of early tartness is normal, as I recall from other versions.  Depth is really nice in this, the way warm mineral tones fill that in.  Flavor complexity and refinement are exceptional.  Some might not love that touch of structure and dryness in this version, but for others that could be a main strength.

Sweetness is a main positive, obviously.  I've not explicitly said that, and just describing sweetness related flavors doesn't necessarily connect with that, even though it does here.

Wuyishan:  this is better for being brewed stronger, more appropriate for this tea version.  A hint of cinnamon joins the rest, filling in a nicely complex flavor balance.  The rest has transitioned.  A touch of cacao grounds the rest, and there is still roasted yam and limited dried fruit input in this (or maybe it has evolved to where those stand out now, and there were only related flavors in the first two rounds, nothing identical).  

Simply brewing this a little stronger did seem to resolve an overall balance / range gap described earlier.  Or the evolution across rounds did; it would be hard to be sure.  

That seems like enough for notes.  These will shift a little more across two more positive infusions, and you could stretch them for two more beyond that.  I would probably mention another flavor aspect for both, or a different balance of what came earlier.  But the basic story has been told. 

Later editing note:  a liqueur or perfume like character stands out in the Mi Lan Xiang version, a good indicator of tea quality, and something that's pleasant to experience.

I really liked both.  The style of the second (Wuyishan origin tea) suits my main preference better, but the strengths of the Mi Lan Xiang version really stood out.  It would be normal for people to judge it as a better quality tea version.  But really their character just varies, looked at another way.  The Wuyishan version got a slow start related to brewing a full flavor range complex character, but that was just an early round anomaly, and could have related to it working better being brewed slightly stronger.

The only anomaly or concern here is the $2+ per gram pricing of the Mi Lan Xiang version.  That's a lot; probably too much.

Thai Wawee Assamica black tea and Moychay Fengqing Dian Hong

 

I'm reviewing another black tea from Wawee Tea, a sample sent by them with an order of sheng and black tea, and a Moychay Dian Hong for comparison.  Reviewing two teas helps place each, through comparison and contrast, and doubles the pace that I get through teas I'm reviewing.  A large set of samples provided by Moychay helps with that first role (many thanks for that, even though it was a thanks for helping them with some editing).

The Thai tea is presented as "Assam."  It's normal for local producers to call Assamica plant type based black tea Assam, whether the style is close to that origin range type or not.  I think they kind of mean "Assamica" by that, but it doesn't matter what they mean, the teas are what they are.  

There isn't any description of that from them, since there isn't a conventional sales site to refer to.  They would have outlets on the local online shopping platforms, on Shopee and Lazada, but people in other countries couldn't use those, and people in Thailand would often already know of those if they like that style of tea.  I order from them by direct staff contact, kind of the old fashioned way, when I see posts about something that look interesting.  This is a related Facebook page; that's where I'd see such things, in others forwarding those.  I could look this up on Shopee, but I'm not going to.

I did look up another citation of a different tea bag version on that Facebook page though, here.  

Wild Assam Black Tea with Osmanthus Flowers

This is Wawee Tea's unique blend, currently served in major hotels in Bangkok.

🍂The main ingredient is Wild Assam Black Tea, produced from centuries-old wild Assam tea trees on Doi Wawee.

Guaranteed by a silver medal award in a black tea competition. International Black Tea Competition 2019, China

🌼 Blended with Osmanthus (Guihua) flowers Authentic variety from Dali, China. Grown 100% chemical-free on our own farm.

🍃 Packaged in tea bags made from corn fiber, microplastic-free.

Brewing Instructions:  Steep the tea bag in hot water for no more than 2 minutes.  For 250 ml.

20 Baht per piece

20 baht is about 60 cents, so that should be about 15 cents a gram.  The tea is pretty good; that's fair.  Again that's an osthmanthus flavored version, that looks to be made from the same black tea base, but I don't know that, and I don't know that the pricing is identical (although there's a good chance that it is).

Those brewing instructions would probably work, but it would be a real shame to throw away that tea bag after it had brewed for two minutes.  It could surely make a pleasant second infusion.

Of course Moychay lists what their tea is, and it would be sold on an online platform, here:

Black Tea DIAN HONG CHA, Chinese tea from Yunnan Province (Red Tea), 70g, 7g  (70 grams costs 7.34 Euro, or $8.35).

Dian Hong, or Yunnan Red Tea, originates from Fengqing County, Yunnan Province, a region renowned for its ideal tea-growing conditions. First developed in the late 19th century, Dian Hong transitioned from green tea production to meet the rising demand for black tea. Its unique flavor and consistent quality have earned it recognition both in China and internationally, even being gifted as a national tea to foreign dignitaries.

Cultivated at altitudes of 1800–2200 meters in Dasi Township, Fengqing County, this organic tea is hand-picked during the spring harvest (March 25 to May 5) using the traditional standard of one bud with three leaves. The tea is made from the Mengku Da Ye Zhong cultivar, and its production involves withering, rolling, fermentation, and multiple drying steps, ensuring a rich, full-bodied character.

Dian Hong brews into a deep red infusion with a complex aroma featuring honey, fruit, and floral notes. The taste is smooth and rich, with a satisfying balance of sweetness and a slight hint of bitterness. Its long-lasting aftertaste is sweet and lingering, offering a comforting experience over multiple infusions.

Let's start with that pricing; it works out to 12 cents a gram (or it would be $12 for 100 grams).  That's pretty favorable, on the low side of the range for this type.  Maybe that implies that the quality level is moderate, or maybe it's just a good deal; it just depends.  Skipping ahead maybe a bit of both, related to writing this after doing the tasting part.

atypical presentation, compared to what I'm accustomed to

Review:

Thai  Wawee Assamica:  it's pretty good.  Warm tones match what one expect from black tea of this range, the earthiness, also covering range like redwood scent.  A bit of berry also stands out, something like blackberry, but one could imagine it being interpreted as dark cherry.  Feel is full and structured, maybe more structured than full, without dryness, or being too harsh, so that part works well.  

This would be amazing as an English Breakfast Tea replacement; a much better version of that general type.  Or maybe one category over, and just better than that, but comparable in some ways.  For the leaf material being as chopped as it is astringency is still mild.  I brewed it for around 20 seconds in a 100 ml gaiwan (for 4 grams), plenty to get it started, and it's not really overbrewed, although it looks it, quite dark and red.  

This doesn't need milk or sugar, prepared like this, but you can put milk and sugar in black tea that doesn't need it, if you brew it strong, and it can still be nice.  I was in a rush yesterday and did that, brewing their Wawee tea cake extra strong, and adding milk and sugar so I could essentially gulp it down, in a very fast breakfast.

Moychay Fengqing Dian Hong:  this is brewed a little too strong.  It's 7 grams in a 100 ml gaiwan, so 20 seconds was a bit much, even though it takes 5 to 10 for teas to generally just get completely soaked.  It has more feel structure than the other tea; I didn't see that coming.  Being brewed too strong changes that; we'll see next round.  I thought that the other tea being chopped would make it brew fast, so the 4 and 7 gram proportions might balance, since this is whole leaf.

This includes a few flavors, a set that hasn't fully integrated yet.  One part is tartness, not a personal favorite in black tea range, but it can come up.  Another is fruit; that I do love.  It includes some of that conventional black tea range, I guess oriented towards malt, which I probably should've used as a description for the other one.  It seems to include a hint of black pepper; that's interesting.  Then there is also some roasted yam, or something along that line.  Maybe sweet potato instead?  Or both, combining.

It sounds quite complex, and it is, but the flavors don't combine and integrate well just yet, and there's a thinness in one part of the flavor or character profile I can't pin down.  It all might just relate to it getting started, not being there yet.  In retrying the other I'm not really noticing malt, but it seems I did miss cacao.  It will be interesting to see how it develops.

Wawee Assamica #2:  these are both all but flash brewed, using a very short infusion time, but both look kind of dark red.  This extracted faster, per the color and darkness, but we'll see.

It's actually pretty light.  It's unusual drinking this style of tea light, more of a conventional black tea, but it works, beyond not matching a brewing norm.  There's plenty of flavor, but the feel seems light.  The feel that is present works, including some richness and fullness.  Flavor includes cacao and whatever berry range that is.  This is almost a Christmas blend flavor profile, without any adjustment from other flavors.  Add some orange peel rind and cacao nibs to dial up the fruit and cocoa flavor and it's there.  Of course it's already fine as it is.

It can be hard to notice what is missing.  This doesn't taste like malt, and tea of this character would usually include much rougher astringency.  It's quite good, for the style and presentation.

Moychay Dian Hong:  this is slightly stronger, in a more conventional range, but then it is brewing 7 grams instead of 4.  I didn't adjust timing, beyond pouring the second gaiwan out first, when it had been filled second.  Tartness is dropping out already, it seems.  Even though it's really subtle that limited pepper note is cool, adding a nice effect.  Roasted yam or sweet potato is a main flavor now.  It's hard to settle on it being just one of those, even though they are different.  It's not as distinct a flavor as it could be.

Related to comparison to Dian Hong I'm familiar with this is fine, but something is missing.  It doesn't include a depth of feel, and a heavy mineral base input, to the extent those often do.  Often some versions will lack flavor intensity while they express that depth, which can seem a little strange, although that can be pleasant if you are accustomed to it.  

I experience that as a gap in what I expect.  You get a good hit of up front flavor, and it trails after some as aftertaste, but the feel just isn't there, and some flavor depth is missing.  I'm not saying that the other version includes all of that, but it covers a normal range better, so to a very limited extent it is.  But it's not a tea that could pass for a good version of Dian Hong either.  I'll push both a little more going back to a 15 to 20 second infusion, and see where they stand further along the cycle.

Thai Wawee Assamica #3:  this is holding up pretty well, for tea that I freed up from a tea bag.  The character isn't different enough to go back through it again; it's just a stronger version of what I experienced the last round.  The balance works, how it all comes together.

Moychay Dian Hong:  this is the best this has been.  Feel thickens, and mineral base picks up; that's more like it.  The black pepper note is stronger.  Or is that white pepper?  It might be.  A touch of berry like range adds to the roasted yam / sweet potato, giving it more flavor complexity, which works well with the richer feel.  

This still isn't a personal favorite style of Dian Hong example, for me, but it's much closer.  A bit of cacao and a little more sweetness would really tie the rest together better.  But it integrates the best it has, and it's fine like this.  Very limited tartness isn't as problematic (I just don't like tartness), but it's more shift in the wrong direction.

To be clear Dian Hong is my favorite black tea type.  It's very familiar.  Versions from South East Asia can be just as good, and can match typical Yunnan style very well, or they can also vary, a lot.  There are outliers in Yunnan versions and styles too.  This is sort of conventional, sort of not, in two different senses.  It lacks typical depth, mineral range isn't as pronounced as it usually would be, and the tartness isn't typical at all.  But the other flavor range is right, and the lack of harsh astringency, the tea being full but not rough or dry.  They generally don't taste malty, and this doesn't.

At this stage I like the other tea a little better.  The tartness alone might swing that balance, or it all just integrates a little better.  It's not nearly as good as the black tea cake I bought from them; for someone with my preferences it would be as well to skip this tea and just buy that.  But then this is a different thing, and for a tea to go, the tea bag form it came in, it would work well, much better than anything Twinings or similar producers make.

Both teas, infusion #4:  the Wawee tea thins a little, but then it has been a challenge brewing 4 grams of broken leaf well.  It's still good.  The Dian Hong is still the best it has been, picking up a little more depth and complexity.  

It's an overall good sign that it improves across rounds; better quality tea will do that, while lower quality versions express their best range early on, and then die.  Or maybe that also relates to material type; low elevation grown plantation tea should be more intense at first, then fade, and higher elevation or more natural grown tea tends to have more durability.  Sometimes older plant material teas can lack exceptional flavor intensity but express a lot of depth.

In the round after these, #5, the Thai Wawee tea was really dropping off, and the Dian Hong wasn't, kind of as one might expect, that whole-leaf tea would brew out slower.  But again it's also a good sign for the Dian Hong quality level.

Conclusions:

Both were pretty good.  Both had their own limitations.  For comparing to standard tea-bag tea, chopped material range versions, the Wawee tea was exceptional, but it's an odd starting point competing in that range.  It was better than that; it was fine as a conventional specialty tea.  But I suppose it could have been even better as a more whole leaf version.

The Moychay version I judged more negatively for coming into the tasting with a lot of expectations about Dian Hong style and character range.  It was good, but some early lack of some range (mineral taste, feel depth), and inclusion of tartness, seemed a lot more negative for me expecting it to be a certain way, to be different.  It's not necessarily that it compared negatively to the other version, but the other Wawee tea was better in a couple of ways.  And the Moychay tea was superior in other ways; it held up better to an infusion cycle, and came to express more complexity and depth than the other, in "later" rounds (this was a pretty short infusion sampling cycle).  

If I had to pick one that I liked more it would be the Thai tea, but they were both fairly equivalent, and that was about preference for specific flavor range, not quality.  Maybe the Moychay Dian Hong was a little higher in quality level, in spite of it also being limited in some ways.

I've been trying such exceptional teas lately that any that seem good but not great might come across as more limited to me now.  These were both good.  For anyone that actually likes a touch of tartness in black teas the Dian Hong review might seem wrong; too negative.  And without specific expectations about feel and mineral base flavor going in it could seem all the more positive.  

Dian Hong drinkers would know what I'm talking about, and anyone new to tea reading this might think it's all nonsense.  Trueness to type expectations aren't really a made up thing, but they do extend how people experience tea into an abstract range, moving beyond "how good; how pleasant?," into "does this match what I expect?"

The Moychay tea is a really good value, for as pleasant as this is.  It may not work well for spending an hour just focusing on it, for me, for it missing my main personal preference range by a couple of aspects, but this would still be a great breakfast tea.  For someone with different black tea preference it may seem much better than that.

Viet Sun Y Ty sun dried black tea (Dian Hong style)

 

I'm reviewing a black tea version from that last Viet Sun order.  I love Vietnamese, Thai, and Laos black teas, that are often more or less made in the Yunnan / Dian Hong style.  It's the type that I've bought the largest quantity of in single orders, buying more than a kg of a Thai and Vietnamese version over the last few years (each, per only one large order of each).  

It's great as an everyday tea, something to have with breakfast.  It probably doesn't work rolling together everything made in a few countries as all one thing, so that generality really requires a bit of interpretation, that I won't waste words on here.  Some teas are like that.  Not really better than above average Dian Hong versions, but along the same line.

It could sound like I'm exaggerating how much I love different teas in reviews, given how my impression is often consistently positive.  I guess those Thai and Laos sheng from Rishi didn't work out like that; they were good, but with significant limitations.  This black tea was favorable but also not completely exceptional.  I think it might have aging potential, which tends to be expressed over a couple of years, so it wouldn't take the 20 to 25 year cycle that sheng pu'er does to change.  It's all covered in the review notes.  This is the vendor description:

Y Tý Sun Dried Black Spring 2026  ($21 for 100 grams; a good price, but still kind of standard)

A really nice black tea made in the sun dried style from one of our favorite tea areas, Y Tý.

Made from old and ancient trees in the Dao village, this tea brews up into a rich copper red soup. Floral, fruity, sweet and layered with a light bitterness, rich mouthfeel and long finish.

Season: April 2026

Picking Standard: 1 bud, 2-3 leaves

Region: Y Tý, Lào Cai

Elevation: 1300-1800m

It's interesting seeing 2025 versions still selling on their site.  It goes without saying but you can't really compare a 2025 or 2024 version of the same tea (apparently from the same origin and producer), and expect aging input to be the only difference.  Tea versions vary year to year, across pretty much all types and producers.  Weather is just too much of an input, and other factors would come into play.  But whatever differences you do experience could be interesting, and trying to see what you make of it could be pleasant.

Review:

First infusion:  I brewed this a little long to get it going, something like 30 seconds.  Taste is great.  Sweetness is nice, and there is plenty of flavor complexity to unpack.  Interpretations would vary, a lot, but to me it tastes like fruit (a little like dried dark cherry), with some earthier tree bark range, and a sun-dried tomato savory input.  There's also just about as much cacao as all of that.  

There's a standard black tea flavor range that isn't always a main input in Yunnan style black teas, a sort of "tastes like tea" flavor, which I guess is actually complex and hard to describe.  This includes that.  It's not so far from well-cured leather range, like a bomber jacket might smell, but of course it's not exactly that.  Sweetness is good but this could be sweeter.  Feel is fine, but nothing unusual.

Second infusion:  a woody sort of input picks up.  This isn't exactly a fruit heavy black tea version, which can come up with this style range.  It's not unusual for versions like this, that are backed off in oxidation level, to pick up sweetness, depth, and even intensity over the course of a couple of years.  This is relatively fully oxidized, or rather that input seems to be mixed, from leaf color, and some of it is.  It should still have good aging potential.  It's just a guess, just my own take, but I think there's no reason to ever hold onto teas like this for more than 3 or 4 years, that it doesn't keep changing and improving.  It's fine now though.

I brewed this round on the light side, to see what that changed, and it changes things, which flavor aspects come across, and the feel.  I'll try it brewed longer next round, for over 20 seconds.

I'm trying this on the morning after a heavy rain, the day after a kind of rough three day audit (my work).  I didn't even do the audit, or serve as a main subject, I was in a management oversight sort of role.  It was still a lot, still tiring.  It has been rough getting back to commuting, working onsite, and that location added an extra distance beyond our offices.  That site was pretty fantastic, but I don't want to add too much about work themes here, so I'll not say why.

Third infusion:  limited sweetness would be a limitation for this tea, for many, expecting standard Dian Hong style.  But it's good.  It comes across a little closer to good orthodox Assam than SE Asian black tea versions usually do.  Maybe there is a touch of malt in this, but I don't mean mostly because of that.  That taste like a standard black tea range is part of it, and this limited sweetness level.  Feel is standard, not overly rich, or dry, but a conventional, structured, slightly dry black tea feel matches really good Assam.

It's odd how this is one of the first versions of SE Asian black tea that malt works for.  You feel that structure on your tongue as well, what you would expect to pair with the malt, leather, and leaning towards wood flavor aspects.  Even sweetness can pick up sometimes when aging less oxidized black teas, so this might be a good bit different in even one year.  Not much would probably still be around; I bought 100 grams of it, I think.  

I'm still working with a limited tea budget, but as I'll be mentioning that still related to buying tea three times already this year (the Vietnamese Quang Tom versions, the Thai and Laos sheng cakes from Rishi, and now these).  More Thai sheng is on the way, and Thai black tea, and a couple of inexpensive cakes from Chen Sheng Hao.  Someone mentioned one of their lower cost cakes being good, and it was too tempting to pass up.  They're better known for higher end, higher quality blends, and for Lao Ban Zhang.  I tried a sampler set from them a couple of years ago, covering more of that; it was good.

Fourth infusion:  richness picks up.  The flavor range doesn't shift enough to add a new list.  It's nice so much complexity is there, the cacao, touch of vague fruit, malt, wood, etc.  A sweeter flavor input and more fruit or cacao would really make this stand out, or more depth in a sense that's hard to describe.  For Dian Hong often that covers a range like roasted sweet potato or yam.  If someone was looking for that this would seem more like yam.  Interpretations would vary.

The dryness is interesting, since it comes across as a feel structure, not a flaw.  This would be fantastic tea to have with breakfast.  In a way that's an insult, like saying a version would be good with milk, or a Scotch whiskey would be good with coke, but of course that's how I'm drinking most of the tea I ever drink.  Five days a week I wouldn't have time for extended morning or afternoon sessions, now that I work during the day again.  It was really nice working from 4 to midnight back in Hawaii; it sort of stretched out the day.  But any work schedule works better without two or more hours going towards commuting.

Fifth infusion:  dried fruit might be picking up a little; that's nice.  There is a nice depth to this tea, it's just not in exactly the form I expected.  In Dian Hong deeper tones can tie to mineral, or fruit or cacao range, or to roasted yam or sweet potato aspects.  Here that malt and mineral seems to connect with what comes across as an underlying taste context.  With just a little more sweetness it would all connect together better.  Someone really could add a little sugar, but I wouldn't.  

For someone who loves good orthodox Assam this might really ring a bell.  It's sort of in between that range and normal Dian Hong.  Astringency is limited, of course, the dryness or edgy feel structure.  Intensity is good but still moderate.  Complexity is fine but the aspects could balance together differently.  I suspect a year or two of aging will resolve a lot of that, and it will be much improved.  For a lot of people it could seem off-putting or problematic to buy a tea to drink in a year or two, but for sheng drinkers maybe it's already familiar ground.  

I wouldn't buy the Y Ty moacha I just reviewed to hold onto though; it's so good now that drinking straight through it would make a lot of sense.  I have just a little of a version from two years ago, from one of these villages; maybe I'll do a comparison.  I think this year's teas were a little better than then though, so maybe it's not a completely fair comparison. 

Sixth infusion:  this is a good tea for drinking a full cycle of rounds, apparently.  It's the most positive it has been, as the last round also was, and I'm not stretching infusion times by that much to keep up intensity.  A warm cacao oriented note picks up, and depth improves.  In a lot of teas a certain mineral flavor range or astringency will come forward a lot more in late rounds, something that brews out more in longer steeps, when a lot of the other positive range has passed through, and has already been extracted.  This doesn't pick up astringency, or strong mineral range, at all.  But then I'm not stretching the time yet either, although next round will be when that applies, and it will need 45 seconds or so instead of around 30 to keep up intensity.

Aftertaste trails on a little more; that's one part of what I mean by the experience of depth.  The other relates to how the warm mineral tones and the flavor come across, as spanning a lot of range.

All in all a pretty good tea.  At this point it feels atypical not commenting that it's absolutely fantastic, as with the other Y Ty sheng versions I just reviewed.  Maybe I expected that, for this to be amazing.  It's pretty good, as Dian Hong style versions go, but only a bit above average, at least at this stage.  

For Dian Hong drinkers that's already a pretty good range to fall in.  For orthodox Assam drinkers this might be much better, a real revelation, since it falls between norms for those two types.  It's missing the heavier malt expression, so depending on expectations maybe that could seem like a big gap instead.  In a year or two this might be much better; it will be interesting to see.

Wanmu Xinyang, Henan award winning black tea

 

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.  

Tea China unsmoked Lapsang Souchong

 

Reviewing a good quality unsmoked Lapsang Souchong from Tea China (provided by them for review; many thanks!).

Lapsang souchong Black tea Wuyi Rock tea ($15.67 for 50 grams, $40.67 for 200)

In terms of appearance, the tea leaves are plump in shape with a dark, glossy texture. When dry, they emit a unique pine resin aroma and the fragrance of dried longan. After brewing, the tea liquor presents a bright red color and maintains its flavor well even after multiple infusions—its distinctive characteristics remain noticeable even after 4 to 5 infusions. The taste of the tea is mellow and rich; upon sipping, the fragrance of dried longan lingers in the mouth, accompanied by a honey aroma, and the pleasant scent persists for a long time.

This is an unsmoked version.  Other parts of the description mention it can be smoked or not smoked, and doesn't really clarify which this is, but it's clear enough when you taste it.

Review:

First infusion:  I thought this would be smoked, but it turns out it's the other version, unsmoked.  That's typically higher quality material, often a bit fruity, and complex, and this is like that, it's pretty good.

Flavor range is kind of what I'd expect, for a good quality version.  There's fruit, which is kind of hard to identify, something dried, maybe, or possibly 2 or 3 inputs.  One part seems like warm and rich malt.  There's a mineral layer, but it's not pronounced, more a supporting element.  A complex woody range stands out.  It's aromatic, so interpretation as dark wood plus spice would make sense.  To me it seems like some kind of incense spice, maybe like sandalwood, but my incense burning days are pretty far behind me.

It's complex enough that interpretations could vary from there.  Someone thinking that this tastes a little like citrus, like a tangerine peel, would make sense.  I'm not really "getting" cacao but it's not so far off that.

It's clean in effect, and sweetness level is good.  Feel is rich.  It could be more full, but then this is brewed on the light side, and that may emerge better in a longer second infusion.  I went with a lower proportion than I typically ever use, maybe 4 grams, maybe 5, which is a good bit for Western brewing, but I tend to usually overdo it.  There aren't really flaws to mention, although a balsa wood sort of note bordering on a trace of sourness some might not like.  It's not really tart, one black tea aspect that I tend to not care for, but I don't remember that coming up in Lapsang Souchong before anyway.

Infusion 2:  brewed stronger.  Mineral base and heavier tones come out more, replacing some of the light fruit.  That would be partly from brewing it stronger and also a transition related change, I'd think, just how later rounds often go.  Dryness picks up, or feel structure does; to me those are two ways of saying very similar things, or they could be seen as overlapping.  

The spice note is interesting in this, one positive transition.  It's not really better or worse, just different, since the heavier tones and swapping in some spice for some fruit all depends on preference, in order to judge it.

I brewed a third infusion and it was still pretty good, which is good for longer duration Western brewing.  I just didn't write notes on that round.

Conclusions:

It's good.  Mixing some of the second round back into the first balances it really well.  It's cooler than the too-hot second version, stronger than the slightly light first version, and the heavier tones balance the rest nicely.  I guess that's the opposite of Gong Fu brewing, mixing your Western infusions to get more complexity and improve balance, while truncating the transition effect.

I've tried a good bit of better quality Lapsang Souchong, it's just been awhile.  I probably last tried a version on this level 3 or 4 years ago.  I think the best of what I tried from Cindy Chen (Wuyi Origin) was a bit better, more distinctive, with more pronounced fruit inputs, but then this might compare better with their more ordinary batches.  The material character varies from year to year, based on growing conditions inputs, per Cindy's comments.  It's not really a fair comparison to describe this in relation to the best tea of this type from the best source I've tried, for this general range and others, but that does help place it.

Related to buying random Lapsang Souchong described as this style from a conventional resale vendor this is pretty far up the scale.  You might find better, but it would often tend to take a few tries to do so.  Most versions from marketplace vendors wouldn't tend to be quite this good, although they could be comparable, in a similar general range.  If a vendor carried enough tea versions--across a broad quality range--one might be better.

It would be a stretch for me to put a fair market value on this, so maybe I'll just critique the selling point version they present.  It's $15.67 for 50 grams, $40.67 for 200.  So either 30 or 20 cents a gram, at those two different volumes.  I guess that's about right.  Let's check the Wuyi Origin pricing, to see how it compares to that.

Their wild Lapsang Souchong lists for $16.50 for 50 grams, and $49.50 for 150 grams (no volume discount at all; that's odd, but it does work that way for their site's pricing, which I guess lets it make sense to buy smaller amounts of different teas at pretty good values, for what they are).  They describe the flavor as "Natural citrus notes with creamy and peach fragrance."  Right, so good and fruity. 

In relation to that comparison it makes the most sense to buy this Tea China version at the higher volume, more reduced pricing option.  Unless someone is unfamiliar with good quality unsmoked Lapsang Souchong the results are what you'd expect.  On average other versions wouldn't be this good, but even better range is out there, but the cost for it tends to be higher.

To be honest I'm surprised that they are sourcing teas this good.  That sounds like a statement about a lack of confidence, doesn't it?  This version might be better than three fourths of what is out there, at a guess, or more if you also consider higher volume, more broadly marketed teas, not just versions from dedicated specialty tea outlets.  Most of that other range would probably be cheaper for them to source; for sure they picked this version because it's that good.  It's surely that balance that they're looking for, connecting quality and value, and it seems to fall in a favorable place.

Thai wild origin material Dian Hong style black tea

Not long ago I reviewed a tea that I identified as my favorite sheng version, a pu'er in all but name, since it was from Thailand.  The producer was Aphiwat, someone I've mentioned before.  This time I'm reviewing a Dian Hong style black tea that I also bought.  It's good; I've tried it a few times before this review.

Of course Dian Hong literally means Yunnan black tea, so I mean that it's in a common style related to that type.  The plants are surely quite similar, Assamica trees, and the growing area isn't that far from China, just not that close either, not right across a border.  Dian Hong is actually a broad range, but the most typical version range is exactly like these, with the flavor aspects I'm describing here, or a related set, similar in appearance to this tea.

This is Aphiwat's FB profile link,  and this is his producer vendor page there.  He's not really set up for website based sales, or direct overseas sales, but it's also not a secret what the source is.

Review:

First infusion:  a bit light; I decided to use that approach of brewing the first round light.  It doesn't matter; the fuller flavor and feel will emerge next round either way.  

You can already tell this is great.  Fruit tones emerge, and some cacao, with underlying mineral and some roasted yam.  One part of the fruit is light and citrusy, with a more main part like dried dark cherry.  Sweetness is good, taste is clean, there are no flaws, and feel is already picking up limited fullness.  There is no astringency edge, in the sense that harsher black teas include one.  It's not tart; I dislike that flavor range, and it's nicer for me when it's not there.  It's great.

Second round:  warmer tones pick up; this is plenty strong.  If anything a little over optimum, but that's fine, trying it brewed in different ways.  Feel stands out a lot, extending from richness to very mild dryness, to about as rich and still light as orthodox Assam tends to ever be.  It even resembles malt as much as it's ever going to, made this way.  Fruit still stands out, the same set, dried dark cherry, and a hint of citrus.  Roasted yam, cacao, and mineral depth are still the rest.

Feel is a big part of the story, and sweetness, along with intensity, and balance.  It gets awkward explaining those, without repeating ideas that might not add up to much.  This is a very close match for Dian Hong style; it's just what this tea is.  It's no surprise; it's made from old Assamica plants in the north of Thailand, that match Yunnan versions about as well as any from elsewhere.  And then it's also different; the flavor character would never exactly match, even though it's so close you couldn't say it's not from Yunnan, as you can more easily pick up from sheng versions.

It's just good.  All of those aspects are positive, and they all balance and integrate well.  I could drink this for a month straight, and I barely even drink black tea now.  In a sense it's a simpler, more basic, less refined tea than good oolongs, but it fulfills a different character role.  I'd rather drink this twice a week for a year than almost any oolong version of any kind.  It's a perfect breakfast tea, and it's also good enough to drink alone, to spend a half an hour just appreciating it.

Third infusion:  even brewed quite fast this draws out good intensity.  Lighter flavor tones stand out more brewed faster; the citrus edge in the fruit emerges more, and warmer mineral eases up.  Rich feel doesn't change much, but the light dry edge is gone.  I think cacao stands out slightly more brewed light, but that could be a judgement call.  

I bought a good bit of this tea but I'm thinking of buying more.  I rarely own more than a kilogram of any tea; I don't "tong up" buying pu'er, and have only bought an entire kg of black tea once, a kg and a half, as it turned out.  That was black tea from Viet Sun, that I bought a year ago, a batch that I might only own 100 grams of now.  I gave it away frequently as gifts, to monks, as a thanks to people for helping us, and so on.  It had a tart edge; it didn't match my preference nearly as well, based on just that one secondary flavor input.  So it goes with preference; someone else could appreciate the tartness the most.

I'll brew one more round and drop the note taking.  This doesn't transition as much as some tea types, even though it might include an interesting extra flavor in the next few rounds.

Fourth infusion:  warmth extends just slightly.  Dried cherry might be shifting towards dried tamarind, or it has already changed.  Mineral seems to stand out a little more.  For someone who has never experienced anything like that, mineral really standing out in black tea, oolong, or sheng pu'er, that might not be familiar or meaningful at all.  For people deep into tea exploration they might either seek out and value that input or else see others as more important.  Either way it adds depth and balance to the experience.  It helps a lot having nice sweetness offset it, as is present in this.  It also matches well with the cacao, dried fruit, and roasted yam.

All in all a really nice, basic tea.  It would only seem basic to people who already love Dian Hong style teas, and for them, for someone with my preferences, it's just great.  It wasn't that long ago that you could find pretty good Chinese versions of this that didn't cost much, but I suppose as with most other tea range prices have jumped quite a bit, and more expensive curator sources have replaced market-type options selling good versions.  

Maybe Yunnan Sourcing's versions are this good (for Chinese teas), some of them, or it's possible this is better than the average there.  Tea Side sells Thai Dian Hong style tea directly, but that is likely to cost more than YS Chinese versions.  There's no reason why Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnamese related range couldn't also be good, made in a similar style, from similar material, so there would be plenty of range to look into, but you need to try lots of versions to run across one this good.

Ai Lao and Yiwu Yunnan black teas (Dian Hong)

Ai Lao left, Yiwu right, in all photos

I'm reviewing two Yunnan black teas from Tea Tracks, sent by the owner Jan to share and for review (many thanks).  Since Dian Hong means Yunnan black (/ red) tea in a sense these are definitely Dian Hong, but people also use that as a more limited style designation.  To me they're both Dian Hong.

Then Shai Hong, which means sun-dried black / red tea, is more or less a subset of that, or overlapping category, often used to identify versions that are backed off in oxidation level just a little, and more suitable for aging transition, deepening in flavor over a few years of storage time.  This post isn't mostly about all that; just mentioning it.

These are really nice.  I'll skip saying more and cite the vendor descriptions, what they are:

Yi Wu Black 易武晒红  (19.62 Euro for 100 grams, $21.92)

This Dianhong sun dried black tea is from Yi Wu, mainly know for it's Puerh teas. In Chinese this variation of black tea is called Shai Hong 晒红 (sun-dried red) as it is dried in the sun during processing. The tea has a great texture and a clean, a bit malty aroma. It can be brewed many times. For us it's the perfect breakfast tea.

Taste:  Full round body, a bit malty taste 

Origin:  Yi Wu, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

Harvest:  Spring 2023

Ai Lao Wild Black 哀牢红  (19.62 Euro for 100 grams, $21.92)

This black tea comes from wild trees that grow in a protected forest near Ai Lao Shan. This tea has a clean taste with notes of berries. It's amazing to see what a fragrance and flavour this tea can produce without any flavouring.

It was a bit tricky to take a good picture of the cake. It's really that dark.

This tea has been pressed into 100g cakes.

Trees:  Wild tea trees growing in a protected forest

Origin:  Ai Lao Shan, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

Harvest:  Spring 2023

the color difference is really something

separated out for brewing

Review:

Ai Lao:  tartness stands out first.  I dislike most tartness in black teas, but in some versions it can balance with the rest in pleasant ways.  The rest of this does integrate well with it, and is pleasant.  There are plenty of other layers to experience.  Sweetness is good, and general tone is quite rich.  

There's a typical malty sort of black tea base flavor, even leaning just a little towards that one orthodox Assam malt flavor aspect, and decent fruit tones beyond that.   Mineral is nice, a pleasant supporting aspect.  There are warm mineral tones, and also a touch that's a little sharper that's almost towards salt, giving it a savory edge.  It works well with the sweetness, fruit, and other complexity.

It's odd that this dry leaf is so much darker in appearance and then the brewed tea is lighter.  There may be meaning in that, but I don't know what it is if so.  When I first saw the dry versions I thought maybe the Yiwu was oxidized less, but for it brewing to a darker, redder liquid I'm not so sure.

Yiwu:  that is interesting.  A pronounced mineral range also stands out in this, also leaning a little towards salt.  Maybe there's something going on with my palate?  It's possible.  I had oatmeal for breakfast, along with two fried eggs, and some longkong and banana, with the banana mixed with chocolate protein powder, milk, and ice to make a smoothie.  A bit much, but a normal range; it shouldn't have thrown things off.

The aspect I described as malt in the other is a little drier in effect here, or so it comes across (nothing like Assam, but a short step towards that).  Feel structure is still fine, and sweetness provides a nice balance.  Both of these were brewed a little long; I went with lower proportion to stretch a large sample to two rounds, and they're probably about 6 grams worth (just a guess), so it's strange that is a low proportion, for me.  I tend to max out what the gaiwan will hold more often.  Brewing them longer related to not commenting that they'd really open up and brew next round, but it's hard to dial that in to an optimum level, the slowish start for all compressed teas.

These are compressed as tea cakes; that's interesting.  Or rather they're chunks that indicate that shape.  I suppose I should say something about aging potential along the way, or input, if these aren't relatively new.  Aging black tea doesn't change all that much, but if a version is oxidized less to begin with, as Yunnan Shai Hong style tends to be, then initially subdued flavors can pick up more over 2 or 3 more years, and then it seems to level off some.  Or maybe that's all wrong; it's just my current understanding.  I retried a pressed Shai Hong brick I bought 7 or so years ago not long ago; it might've changed some, but it seems pretty similar to me to how it was back then. 

It would be easier to blind guess sheng inputs based on a version being 1 to 3 years old, since that pattern is more familiar, but starting points vary a lot for those, as can occur some in black tea, so it would still be guesswork.

Ai Lao #2:  brewed faster and lighter; it's interesting how much difference that makes.  There is still plenty of intensity to appreciate, it's just on the light side.  Tartness fades back to a more even and integrated part of the rest; it's not at all objectionable at this level of input.  It's hard to describe the dried fruit input that I didn't put words to last round; maybe along the line of dried tamarind, or really it could be complex, a few different flavor aspects mixing.  Rich feel is nice, for it being a bit light.

It's hard to describe why this captures why I love simple black teas so much, even though this isn't any more interesting or complex than a lot of other range.  There's just something simple, balanced, and pleasant about it.  

That simplicity is actually misleading; there are a few layers of aspect range going into making this experience have depth, so it's actually not simple in aspect range.  It comes across as integrated, and less intense than sheng pu'er experience, and also less refined than higher end oolong, so I guess to me that leads to an effect related to simplicity, even though the complexity and balance is making it pleasant.

Yiwu:  a spice note picks up in this.  Fruit is still more dominant, but it's interesting the way the two ranges play off each other.  Then warmer mineral tones and that malt-like depth balance nicely, just not exactly malt, that one aspect.  Somehow I expected the other version to be more intense and complex, and for this one to have good depth but to be subdued, and in a sense that's reversed.  The fruit seems to shift towards a berry-like range, maybe in between dried blueberry and dried dark cherry, a nice range.  There is a touch of tartness in this, if you look for it, but it's a minor supporting aspect, not the main flavor as in round one for the Ai Lao version, which dropped back to a contributing aspect in the second infusion.

I suppose I like this one more, at this point, but these are both pretty good.  They're good enough that it makes me start thinking about optimums, about how they relate to a quite ideal range, or how they could be even better.  To me Dian Hong isn't really about that, the aspects matching a certain style form, and reaching towards an experienced aspects optimum.  It's great because pleasantness and depth carry the experience, regardless of what aspects are included or not so pronounced.  It makes more sense to go on about most preferred or more ideal narrow sheng pu'er types, or oolong variations, what the best Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong is like, related to a range of styles of those, and so on.

Related to that perspective I'll continue on with describing aspects, and leave off with comparison to some type-typical or ideal form, or aspects set.  I should look up the age of these during this tasting, and try to guess more about that input.  Maybe after next round.

Ai Lao #3:  not so different.  It's a little subtle but complexity and depth is still really nice.  I brewed these for about 20 seconds, using what to me is a moderate proportion, again probably about 6 grams (which I don't weigh out), and it would work to push them harder, brewing them for over 30 seconds.

Balance of flavors is nice.  It's complex but hard to break down as a list.  I already have, and I don't suppose it has transitioned, but it's even harder to sort out those aspects now (fruit tone, warm mineral, a mild malt-like aspect).  I could relate to someone interpreting this as floral range; somewhat mixed and vague dried fruit and warm floral tones could be similar.  Feel is rich and aftertaste is fine for this tea type; they add in an experience of additional complexity.  I wouldn't judge this to include tartness in this round, brewed this way; that did fade.

Yiwu:  again there's a catchy interplay between a dried berry or fruit range and a spice note that's hard to identify, with other warmer depth really making it all balance nicely.  That warm tone, maybe covering both malt and spice, is more pronounced in this than the other version (any equivalent range; most of the actual flavors sets don't overlap directly).  The other version is pleasant, but that bump in depth, complexity, and intensity sets this apart.  Some of that you could compensate for by brewing the first a bit stronger, but it can only change character so much.

I will try these brewed for about a minute, which will probably just be normal intensity range, for them covering so much ground already in this infusion cycle.

Ai Lao #4:  a very pleasant minty aspect joins in; that's nice!  Not like drinking Red Jade, if I remember that Taiwanese black tea theme correctly, but just a hint of wintergreen, that works well with the rest.  The other intensity might be fading a bit.  That's for more forward flavor aspects; the depth is the same, the rich feel, warm mineral tones, and underlying base complexity.  This can probably be stretched for one more intense round and then it really will be on the way out.  Using longer infusions can do that, and black teas can brew out a little faster than I'm accustomed to with sheng.

Yiwu:  this is fading slightly too.  Probably as much from the power of suggestion I'm noticing a trace of mint in this too, when I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't just experienced that in the first.  To me it tastes like tea berry, which is in between berry and mild mint.  

I suppose that's a flavor that not so many people would be familiar with, since it's not something people actually consume.  I remember mentioning that flavor to my mother once, and she asked if those are even safe to eat.  I think they are, but the texture is so strange that someone might enjoy tasting them but you wouldn't keep eating them.  It's been a life's mission to pick, process, and dry teaberry leaves, since I've heard that they can be oxidized, and I may get to that soon, since I'll visit my family back in Pennsylvania in a week, for a few weeks.  I'll probably stop reviewing teas for a month.

These did brew a few more pleasant rounds, but there wasn't much more to say about them, no interesting later transitions.

Conclusions:

I did look through the product descriptions, and add them here.  Both are from Spring 2023; they've had a year and a half to settle, and change character some, but probably not much.  They both might be ever so slightly better within another year and a half, but I bet they're pretty much where they're going to be now, and it's not certain that they'll improve with a little more age.

The vendor descriptions, Jan's, say that the Yiwu is standard Dian Hong /  Shai Hong, which I've already mentioned, and that the Ai Lao includes a berry-like flavor aspect.  It was interesting how one version of fruit came out more in the Ai Lao in early rounds, which I described as seeming more like tamarind, then a different range stood out more for the Yiwu later on, which I did describe as berry.  These flavor descriptions are interpretations; if I keep trying the same teas a few times I would adjust what I notice, and how I describe it.

I guess that I liked the Yiwu better, but these are both pretty good.  I didn't explicitly say it yet here but Dian Hong is my favorite black tea type, so to me they were especially pleasant.  Others who love a bit of integrated tartness as a supporting aspect could like the Ai Lao more, but that didn't really last past the first two rounds.  For these being moderate in price someone could buy both, and see for themselves how they map to their preference.  

Related to that value the 20 cent a gram range (22) is quite fair for these; they are exceptional.  Someone could try another dozen Dian Hong / Shai Hong versions that all cost 15 cents / gram instead and find one that's comparable, but the lower quality half would fall well short of matching these, or even the average, most likely.  They're still basic character teas, in one sense, but this flavor complexity, character depth, balance, and lack of flaws can be hard to fully appreciate for what it is.

In an odd way that's what really works well with Dian Hong; if you take away some of the interesting flavor range, or general complexity, intensity, rich feel, etc. these would still be good.  Inexpensive, more lower-medium quality Dian Hong is still quite pleasant.  These are above average though.

Re-reading this during editing I've left out commenting on a couple of points.  Why was that Ai Lao so dark in leaf appearance, and why did it transition so much, changing from intense, including more fruit range, then onto being more subtle?  Wild origin tea versions can often be made from variations of conventional Assamica plants.  The purple leaf versions were this, a naturally occurring variation that ends up containing different compounds and tasting quite different.  Some wild material inputs aren't even Camellia Sinensis, or it can be hard to be sure, and accounts can vary about that.  I don't worry too much about it; the aspects are the thing.  

I own a Thai sheng ("pu'er-like tea") cake that's quite odd, not even close, and that's a little different, on a couple of levels.  You wonder what's in that, if drinking a lot would be a problem, and it's more sour than almost any tea I've tried, along the lines of that one fermented Japanese tea version (Goishi cha).  This black tea is just normal tea, but it's possible that plant genetics have drifted some over time.  

Check out how dark this purple leaf sheng pu'er version appeared (on the right, reviewed here):

I doubt this was purple leaf tea (an Assamica variation); that tastes different, in a distinctive way, often including some sourness, and a distinct grape-like fruit flavor.  The point was that maybe it's a slight variation from conventional Assamica plant genetics.

In talking to Jan he mentioned that one of these Dian Hong he likes to brew Western style.  To me it goes without saying that these would be fine brewed that way, probably not really inferior, just different.  It is as well to say it though.  I tend to brew better Dian Hong Gongfu style out of habit, and then I would drink it made that other way sometimes if I owned a good bit of it.  It really doesn't take me much extra time to brew 8 to 10 Gongfu infusions (these cycled through faster since I used slightly less than I often do, really maxing out proportion), but there is something nice about brewing two rounds in a basket infuser and being done with it, downing a couple of mugs worth.  

Of course the aspect variations, the transition, I described over four rounds would all combine, which can be better that way in some cases.  To me it makes sense to keep infusion temperature pretty hot for Gongfu brewing of all types, at or near boiling, and then people could experiment with how they prefer black teas prepared, which may vary by type range, related to brewing temperature.