Moychay jasmine sun-dried black tea

It's a little odd to be reviewing a tea that shows up on the site as "not available," (an archived product), but it seems like they rotate those products so a related version would come back later.  The point isn't just to promote marketing for what they're selling anyway, more about talking about teas, on my end.  They sent this tea as a sample but that was back towards the beginning of the year; I've been turning up what I've lost track of lately.

For me there are only a couple of flavored teas I tend to like; Earl Grey and jasmine black.  Monsoon in Thailand did a coconut flavored black tea that was unusually good that I tried awhile back too (3 year ago; the time just flies).  And then there's masala chai, but that's getting into a different subject, a spice and tea blend.

from checking that Monsoon coconut tea post; they were so cute

Hatvala makes the best version of jasmine black tea that I've tried, hands down (at least until this version, and experiencing it unfolded in two parts).  On first take in just looking at this tea it seems amazing they used a black tea of this quality.  Of course it's the taste of a tea (and mouthfeel, and body) that makes it good or bad, not the appearance, but you can sort of get a sense.  I'll say more about that difference in inputs and results in a review section, which actually covers trying the tea twice.

Review

I brewed this tea Western style, during a work-day breakfast that didn't allow time for normal process Gongfu brewing or making any notes.  I will brew teas Gongfu style even if I am eating a quick breakfast; there's a trick to that.  It's possible if you use two different cups and just keep the tea brewing, rotating the cups to allow some of the heat to dissipate off.  Seems like a lot of messing around?  Some teas perform better made Gongfu style, and once you get used to those extra steps it's still extra work but they feel natural, and don't take up much time.  Since for black teas the outcome difference in preparation approach is lessened I just tried out Western style instead, at least at first.

The tea was a bit more subtle than I expected.  I guessed that was probably because it's a sun-dried black, which tend to be a bit more subdued, and it is that.  They pick up more complexity, or at least have the potential for it, because they can develop over a couple of years after processing.  It's not just theory; I've actually re-tasted the same teas and have experienced it.  It's a bit odd making a floral blend out of this type of tea since aging it wouldn't seem to come up but it's not as if those really need the time to get to some higher potential; they just pick up a bit more depth and complexity.

Onto a flavors list, before saying more about a style comparison between this tea and Hatvala's (or more a contrast, as it works out).  You pick up black tea and floral, in the jasmine range (mild jasmine though; absolutely nothing like the floral blast more typical in green teas).  I had trouble sorting out a flavor list for the black tea beyond that.  It might've been a bit earthy, possibly in the range of light spice.  Working from a subtle flavor profile with floral range added it was hard to tease out if there was any floral aspect coming from the tea itself, or if a subdued fruit input might be.  A touch of citrus does seem present.

I really think a Gongfu approach would work better for this tea to have more of a go at moderating intensity.  One could try out variations to confirm that but I'd guess that using water at full boiling point might work well since the tea is so subtle, in order to ramp up flavor and draw out a bit more of an edge.  For a lot of black teas just below that works as well or better, in order to preserve the same flavor profile but keep sweetness without maximizing astringency.  With no significant astringency that drops out as a factor.

I did try it a second time prepared Gongfu style, but somehow it makes more sense to compare my impression of it with another favorite jasmine black before getting to that.

In comparison with Hatvala's jasmine black version

This is different, contrasting styles of comparable teas.  I might say first that I first tried jasmine black tea as a typical commercial product in Indonesia, a form of grocery-store tea (which I mention here in talking about trying out Christmas themed blends, but never did review in a standard form).  I liked those.  It was obvious the quality was limited, for both the tea and what they did to get to that flavor input, but it meshed.  A friend living in Indonesia mentioned having health problems he traced back to drinking that same product, a skin condition as a side-effect.  At a guess that was a reaction to some ingredient used in drawing out the jasmine flavor, a solvent of some sort, versus being some other type of contaminant, but of course that's just a guess.

Hatvala's version is much better than that.  They started with a pretty good black tea I'm familiar with, their Wild Boar (Vietnamese tea; their black teas vary enough that generalities about them tend not to apply).  Then they added jasmine flavor by layering the tea with a lot of jasmine flowers, repeating that process until the added flavoring was strong.  It really works.  Their description of that is interesting:

that Hatvala version (credit their site)

...Black Jasmine requires four kilograms of flowers to make each kilogram of tea. Flowers and tea are blended over a five day period in Hanoi using unopened blossoms collected from gardens in the city’s West Lake area.


To me it's not all that different than the effect of Earl Grey, even thought the floral range is completely, absolutely different than bergamot citrus as an addition.  It adds complexity to the black tea in a way that complements it.


This Moychay version used a much milder tea base, with a good bit less astringency.  In one sense it might be better tea but more than that it's just different in style.  And they've mixed dried jasmine flowers with the tea, a completely different approach.  Oddly actually adding the flowers ends up providing a much milder jasmine input, probably related to how much flower it took for that other process to lend that flavor.  Still this really works, even better brewed a different way, as described in the following.

Trying the tea brewed Gongfu style

I hadn't expected this preparation approach variation to make much difference before brewing it Western style but concluded the opposite afterwards.

It's much different; this really is much better.  That jasmine ramps up quite a bit, and the black tea picks up intensity as well.  I went with a long first infusion (based on using a moderate proportion for Gongfu style, for me, half filled with dry leaf, 2/3rds full after expansion); brewed for just over 30 seconds.  I think 20 seconds would maintain the same intensity from here out, probably increased again after a couple more.  Since there is no astringency to factor in level of intensity is up to preference, not "brewing around" aspects like that.

The effect of the jasmine is completely different; that's interesting.  It's sweet, floral (of course), and creamy.  It tastes warmer than jasmine tends to, towards rose or something such, probably due to the way the black tea flavor mixes, not so much something about the flower.  The earthiness of the tea works well; even that softness and subltety of using a sun-dried black makes lots of sense when the balance is better.  A lot of Yunnan blacks might sweep aside a lot of the jasmine effect for intensity (Sergey, the Moychay owner, mentioned that this tea is from Jing Mai after I did that first tasting).

That's a bit bold, using a known-area black tea for a blend.  A skeptic would say they did it to cover a flaw in the tea, but if so I've not picked up yet what the flaw was.  It was subtle, made Western style, but that resolved a good bit using a different approach, and sun-dried blacks run a bit subtle.  They can pick up depth and complexity, and to a limited extent intensity, by aging for a year or two (or maybe longer; I'm not clear on how that progression tapers off, and when), but they're still not as intense as oven-dried teas made for consumption within half a year or so.

The aspect set and effect is similar on the next round, but the taste is still surprising.  It has a clean, sweet intensity, a creamy feel, supported by a lot of earthy complexity, and it all kind of comes as a shock when you first sip it.  The sweetness and flavor hits you first but the depth is right there too.  It's an odd feeling, getting a bit overloaded by a tea that's on the subtle side.  Malt or grain range is giving this experience depth but prepared a little stronger the way that floral comes across stands out.  Mild spice is there too (cinnamon range) but it's subtle.  Some citrus present is a bit subtle too; it layers in with the floral tone.

It's appealing for having that pronounced "higher end" aspect (the jasmine flower, just a soft version of it), which trails into more and more subtle supporting aspects, all of which integrate in a way that balances and makes sense.  It really is a shame to brew this tea Western style.  I wonder why that is; you'd think the jasmine would really need a longer infusion time than tea leaves to extract.

The effect isn't really different on this next round but the aspects have shifted.  It's pretty close to tea-berry, it seems to me, that effect of mint joining an unusual version of fruit.  It's a shame I can't really describe what tea-berry is like but for those who have experienced it there's nothing more to say.  I've ran across the idea that you can brew those leaves (of that plant, a relative of mint, that makes a berry that's really not a berry), and that it can even oxidize.  It would be nice if a reader could check that out and get back to me.

The tea is the best it's been this second round, and it was already nice before.  I'll have to change that assessment related to the Hatvala version from this being a reasonable second as a favorite to drawing even, to being just as good but quite different.  For a blast of floral tone and pleasant black tea earthy intensity it's not even close to that Vietnamese version but for people into plain teas the subtlety, complexity, depth, and balance of this version would probably be preferable.

On the next round cinnamon does pick up a little, approaching the floral range aspect intensity; it might be slightly better yet, or maybe just different.  It seems a little fruitier too, adding a bit of apple to the mix.  It's a type of apple flavor that's unfamiliar, one of those strains that no longer gets produced, crowded out by Fuji, Macintosh and the rest.  I interpret citrus (along the line of orange peel) as a mild supporting aspect across these infusions but that might just be a matter of interpretation.

Conclusions, other thoughts

For anyone drinking Twinings flavored or blended teas--who probably wouldn't be reading this blog in the first place--this tea would be a revelation, an amazing step up in quality level.  Then again decent Tie Kuan Yin light oolong probably would be too, or Dan Cong in general, the whole starting point range of better teas.  For someone looking for that flavor rush Earl Grey gives you the Hatvala style jasmine black would be better.  This tea would appeal to people who don't drink flavored or blended teas at all (kind of a strange target demographic for a blend, when you put it that way; a blend for people who tend to not like blends).

Since this tea isn't listed I have no idea what it had cost.  In one sense it doesn't matter--costing more or less doesn't change what it brews to become--but in others it does.  Really that seemed more relevant based on how much I liked it brewed Western style, if it could compete as a moderate priced "daily drinker" or not for value.  Brewed Gongfu style this turned out so well that it stands up to good plain teas in quality and level of appeal; it's just different.

Sergey said they'll probably add another similar version after a spring production.  Even for people who normally wouldn't even consider trying a floral blended tea checking that out might make for a unique positive experience.  I drank a round at the very end cold-brewed, sat in the refrigerator overnight to make one more infusion, and it was really nice cold too.  Even though it would work it's way too good a tea to be drank just as iced tea, it seems to me.

they grow up so fast; just three years after that earlier photo

this kid too

Nepal golden needle from Barbote Tea (from Narendra)

This is part of set of teas that Narendra sent, the Nepal tea producer who started small scale production (with background covered here).  They had already made a nice white tea version and black tea that I've reviewed, with limited additional background on a Facebook business page.

The short version is that they make nice Nepalese distinctively local origin teas.  Adding just a little to that, Narendra's vision is to get develop the capability for small, local growers to produce tea through a co-op style initiative, versus routing production and sales through a larger central factory system.  More value is added at the local level, and more of the final return stays there too, benefiting farmers (ideally).  The better the tea is the better that will work.  That's why they've made a running start on producing exceptional tea, along with getting the right help and using the right equipment as inputs.

To be clear I'm judging this tea against all other Nepalese teas I've tried, and against a standard of teas from everywhere else.  It's still pretty good.  "Curving" that some for being a new development it's still better than one would expect it could be, by a good bit.  The tasting description fills in details related to that.

Review

The first thing that hits me is honey.  It's a warm, rich, version of it, the way that bees' wax smells.  I'm brewing this using a modified Western style, designed for making three infusions, or possibly even four, with this first one on the light side.  I brewed it at slightly over a standard Western proportion but only for between 2 1/2 and 3 minutes (without timing that; my versions of these descriptions are never set up as brewing instructions guidance).

I'm partly on break today for this being a holiday and I've already met Somnuc this morning (dropping off tea as part of a tea swap, but I only caught him on the way through a local airport link station), and need to get around to playing with Keoni.  He's the Laos guy who passed on some interesting Laos and Vietnamese tea versions he's turned up while traveling.

Somnuc in travel mode

This reminds me more of one of Cindy's Jin Jun Mei than I would've expected.  I reviewed three of awhile back; I'd have to check and see which one (probably similar to the "honey aspect" version I reviewed this year, with their listing for that here).  Those teas essentially are golden bud-based versions, just much different than other similar themed teas from other places in China.  This one is not all that far off that aspect range at all; kind of strange.

I'm not claiming that this tea is as good as their Jin Jun Mei, to be clear.  Those teas stand out from the range of everything else I've ever tried, not a fair bench-mark for anything from anywhere else for being too refined and exceptional.  They're just better instead of only being different, in some objective sense.  Sharing some aspect range is a great start though.

Brewed light like this the body will be on the full side but it will probably pick up a drier, more structured feel brewed just a little heavier.  It already lingers related to aftertaste effect after drinking it, a good bit as black teas go, even brewed lightly.

a full mug doesn't show off the true color; it looks dark

the same tea in a shallow cup is reddish-gold

I feel like I'm not getting far with flavor description, and this Western style approach doesn't allow for catching that over the next few rounds as Gongfu brewing does.  It's pleasant but still a little subtle, with a rich feel even brewed lightly, but that lower intensity level makes splitting flavors out trickier.  It tastes a little like Jin Jun Mei, but that reference only works for people familiar with that.

Beyond the bees' wax and medium-dark honey a very mild form of malt fills in a deeper base, like a sweet version of grain, or exactly that, a version slightly fermented to change complex starches to sugars.  Mineral accounts for some of the structure but it's hard to identify beyond all that other complexity; it fades into the background.  I've been drinking so many SE Asian sheng lately that the mineral seems really light in this in comparison, but then the whole profile is different.

It's a normal weakness of such teas to be "off" just a little, to be woody, or include a touch of sourness, or in between the two along the lines of balsa wood, but this is really clean-flavored instead.  I'll go longer on the next infusion and describe it prepared that way.  This kind of tea still can transition some through rounds but maybe not as much as some other types; it's my impression that shifting intensity changes its character more than round-by-round transitions.  It would work just as well brewed Gongfu style but per my past experience it doesn't make all that much difference for this tea type.

I brewed the second round over three minutes but it didn't change character much.  It might've picked up just a little edge, a bit of extra mineral with the malt changing form just a little, but a soft one.  It goes without saying but I meant "malt" in the sense of ovaltine or malted milk balls versus Assam; a soft, complex, sweet-grain flavor versus an edgier, mineral intensive, feel-structure coupled flavor aspect.

I forgot to mention one factor that enables change in this tea (and others, but in particular in this one):  temperature.  I was using water just off boiling point from a hot water dispenser but didn't pre-heat that infusion device (a basket-style For Life cup with lid).  That ceramic cup would pull out a significant amount of heat.  Often using water a bit off of full boiling point temperature for black tea might be a good thing; it doesn't necessarily need it to draw out the same range of flavor and feel-structure.  It just depends though; using the hottest water possible will just add a bit of edge to the tea, which for some would be essential, and for others not desirable.

In Gongfu brewing circles people often make the claim that not using full boiling point water with a lot of teas robs them of achieving their potential, but then those people are able to use infusion times of between 5 and 10 seconds to moderate some aspects that aren't positive at some infusion strengths.  And preference can develop to what you are used to, or to what you expect to like, and for them boiling point water with high proportion and very short infusions is gospel for brewing process.  Some even brew green teas like that, which seems a bit extreme.  But then expectations and preference do set the precedence, not objective best practices.

The flavor list from those first two rounds is nice:  tastes like JJM, bees wax, medium dark honey, light malt for structure, and some mineral.  It might make sense to interpret some of this as a warm type of floral, sunflower or something such.  The sweetness could come across as toffee instead; that would also account for some of that warm tone.

The complexity isn't bad, just limited.  This type of tea just isn't about that, just as it's also not about feel-structure, an astringency edge.  On the positive side it has a rich, clean, reasonably broad flavor profile (just complex within a narrow range), that partly matches some teas that are in high demand.  And it's easy to brew, probably hard to screw up, with that softness letting you focus on getting the best flavor balance without astringency as a concern or negative factor.

It's good enough tea that I'd expect tea enthusiasts to love it; it's not as if it's limited in the sense of quality, or lack of depth.  The limitation is the range it expresses for aspects; it only covers the ground that it does.  Drawing more of a feel-related edge out of it would be possible but it would take doing; it's not really about that.  I wouldn't really call this an "everyday drinker" related to what that usually implies about a moderate quality level tea, but it is easy to brew and would work well with breakfast.


I let the next infusion run for well over 5 minutes, starting from the cup being hot already, so to the extent it's possible to change aspect outcome on the third infusion brewed Western style I can describe how that goes.  When I said this tea would make a fourth infusion (or maybe more) I meant that this type of tea won't completely stop ("brew out"), and the infusions won't become negative, so using a quite long infusion to get one or more beyond the normal cycle will work.

It might even be worth simmering it to see how that goes; I've been seeing discussion of that approach recently.  A boiling versus infusion approach is only commonly referred to in two contexts (beyond making masala chai, which is something else, about making a tea and spice mix):  some people simmer white teas, typically more for a compressed shou mei version than a bright, fresh bai mu dan, or it's not unheard of for someone to stretch one last infusion out of an aged sheng that way, after going through a very long cycle of extending infusion time to get a few extra that way first.

The flavor is the strongest it's been on this third infusion but the body is thinning a little.  It's not changing, not transitioning in that sense, and still on the subtle side.  Using a higher proportion would bump the intensity a little but the character wouldn't change; it's a subtle, soft version of a black tea, more or less the black tea version of silver needle or silver tip.

Conclusions

I like the tea.  My personal favorite for black tea is Dian Hong (Yunnan black leaf-based tea), especially because of the flavor intensity those can convey, cocoa, dried fruit, roasted sweet potato, and so on, so a mild bud-based black is a good bit off that range.  But I still like it, and it seems to be well above average for quality level for orthodox black teas in general.  This tea would be perfect with a light afternoon snack, complex and flavorful enough to provide a pleasant input, but soft and subtle enough that it would work well with mild pastry or butter cookie.  It could work with breakfast too if someone is good with milder black teas with breakfast.  I like different tea characters with breakfast every day, depending on my mood that day.


I have several versions of Nepal teas to try so if my impression changes I can mention it related to reviewing others, but the general idea is always to pass on a clear impression, not to get to the bottom of an objective description.  To me it doesn't work that way; interpretations always vary, and overall-impression of type and quality level depends on degree of background experience.  Earlier on in a blog-reviewing process I'd often try teas a few times prior to final write-up but I'm keeping too busy with posts lately to do that, and combining multiple forms of notes really doesn't work well.

The white tea version (probably similar to one that I already reviewed) will probably be my favorite.  That style of Nepal white tea is distinctive and different from teas from other places, even much different than Darjeeling range that I've experienced (although their white teas can be great in a few different ways).  Nepal versions tend to have a bright, intense fruit to them, between an orange and lemon citrus range, with a lot of mineral almost as intense as that input.  At any rate I'll post further about what I think of those other teas, a few other types that Narendra shared.

with a best friend on a Christmas presentation day

warming up by hamming it up.  they're all so cute.

1997 2 kg. sheng pu'er brick (Tibetan style)

in the Tea Village shop tasting area (in October)

When I last visited the Tea Village shop in Pattaya one owner, Vee, let me try a really interesting version of aged pu'er that seemed as much like a hei cha.  That's essentially what this is.  I'll let his website description of it tell more of the details:

And that's what it is; just a bit of a mystery tea.  The "made in the Tibetan style" more or less says "hei cha" to me, and tasting it does too.  It's a fine material, very hard pressed tea, which was very difficult to extract for a brewing sample.  Vee used a hammer and chisel to remove this part, I think it was, and I used a pick for pu'er, a knife, and eventually a bottle opener (it gave good leverage and mechanics for snapping off small chunks).

You read that one part right; they sell this as 2 kilogram bricks, equivalent to nearly a half dozen typical size pu'er cakes (although it lost weight in storage, so it's down to only 5).  It sells for 12,900 baht, now equivalent to $393.  For five tea cakes worth of tea that comes out to around $80 a cake, a pretty good value for 21 year old tea.  Of course it's not pu'er, so it needs to be compared to a hei cha scale instead (in my opinion), and I doubt there is enough equivalent product on the market for this for there to be any clear fair market value.  If you want it you have to find it first, which is essentially all but impossible, and a vendor can charge whatever they want for it that makes it sell.

As for what the tea tastes like I've had it before, in the shop with him, and it seems like a hei cha to me.  It's smooth, rich, warm in effect, and centered on the plum-like range that I've encountered in other hei cha.  "Plum" may or may not be the best description for a primary taste aspect but it gets across the general range.  Onto tasting notes then.

looking bored with the tea theme right away

I think this was that tea, from trying it there

Review

The story of this tea starts with how hard it was to break up.  That initial chunk Vee used a hammer and chisel to break off, I think.  I tried to use sharp spiked tea pick to flake off some pieces but that didn't really work.  Eventually I used that, along with an actual knife (luckily that didn't end in me impaling myself), and finally a bottle opener to crack off some pieces.  It's a well-compressed tea.

I used a standard brief rinse for this tea, which wasn't going to do much for getting the small chunks of tea started brewing.  It was a judgement call as to how to brew it, related to what I broke off including both dust and small chunks.  It's not optimum to brew two completely different types of material together, since that dust will be starting to infuse within a second round (the first after a rinse), and the chunks will take a few rounds to even get soaked enough to start.  When I drank the tea with Vee we had at least 10 rounds of it and that tea may well have continued for that much longer.  The issue I'm referring to is uneven infusion exposure instead of longevity; one part of the tea will be brewed out (changing flavor to where teas that you discard as spent are in the cycle, often turning woody in flavor character) while the other just starts going.

The obvious work-around is to separate out the finer material and not use it, to set it aside for a later round.  I didn't do that though.  Per my best guess this tea won't "brew-out" to be unpleasant, but instead will retain a similar character and just fade over a very long infusion cycle, so it won't make as much difference.  And as usual intuition is my main guide for how to approach brewing teas; somehow my gut said the right thing is to mix it all and use it together.  Of course it's hard to track how frequently that's wrong.

a bit too light

I brewed the tea for around 10 to 15 seconds for a first infusion, which turned out to be more of a second rinse, too thin to get a lot of effect from.  Then for 30 seconds a second cycle, to get the tea chunks started soaking and to get the dust pretty far along, and mixed those two infusions ("stacked" them, to use the catchier formal term).  From here on a more standard approach should work, something like 15 second brewing times.  I just checked Vee's website recommendation and they said to use two rinses; that makes sense.  From there adjusting time as works best for you is the way to go.

This first infusion won't be the best representation of the tea's character but it's nice.  It has that plum effect already.  Mineral is present as a base but it's in a really soft and subdued form compared to the sheng and shou themes I've been on.  It's the other layers of complex flavors that make this nice, which are harder to pull apart.  One part is like incense spices, frankincense or myrrh (I still have to get my incense habit going to tell what that is though).  Another is a very fine trace of menthol.

As a primary flavor aspect I hate menthol (just a personal preference issue), so that #18 Ruby or Red Jade black teas from Taiwan almost always seem awful to me.  As a minor supporting element that integrates will with the rest is a completely different case; that can be great, and this works.  From there I could keep going but it seems as well to add more description related to a second round instead.

Second infusion

This opened up faster than I thought it would.  It seems to be loosened up and brewing nicely already.  I gave it about a 15 second infusion time, about twice as long as it would need to draw out flavor if astringency or other aspect moderation was an issue but this tea will be nicer at a slightly more intense brew intensity.  That's just a matter of preference; it would work well brewed wispy light or twice as strong again.

The same flavor list as last time applies:  plum, mineral, some supporting spice (which is continuous with some dark wood tones), and just a hint of menthol, which might be more faint, so that I wouldn't identify it in this round if I hadn't noticed it in the last.  It's nice the way that complex mix coats your mouth and remains as an aftertaste effect.  There isn't that much structure to the mouth-feel to talk about; the intense flavors give it a complex over-all effect but not a lot of mouth-feel structure supports or contributes to that.  The wood is similar to redwood, that aromatic, almost spicy range of wood tone.

The mineral is more intense in this round; it really covers such a range that it would be possible to write a short review description of just the mineral.  It's warm and complex in nature, towards that artesian well / red sandstone range.  It extends to being almost metallic, which could be a bad thing depending on the metal character, but it works in this.  It's not completely different than rusted iron bar but it seems to extend to metal-range complexity.  For being a flavor-intensive but simple in structure tea experience this covers a lot of ground.

Third infusion

mostly wetted and loosed up already

It's not transitioning; the taste is like before.  I could keep free-associating to come up with different interpretations for the same set of flavors and other aspects.  Probably the balance of what is there has shifted a little too; there's more that could be said about that.  That menthol background element is so faint that it may or may not be there at all at this point, but I'm going to say that it is.

dried persimmons!  I'm not sure what this coated version is covered with.

Plum still works as a fruit aspect description (for a tea that's more in the mineral and earthy flavor ranges anyway; that just stands out for some reason) but it really is closer to a dried persimmon.


Which reminds me, I was just in Chinatown and walked by those, and the looked really nice, but I was in a hurry and didn't buy any.  I love those; that flavor is as close as anything else to fig (so this tea isn't far from that either), but it's just a little lighter (but just as sweet), less rich but more complex in some sense that's hard to place.

Fourth infusion

I'm running out of time, off to get a haircut after completely losing any style due to not making that work.  It's still similar.  I remember that from trying an awful lot of rounds with Vee; it stays fairly consistent.  I like this character so that's a good thing.  I think the mineral and metal levels move around a little, that the relative proportion of those individual aspects is varying, but the overall character and effect aren't.  The aromatic wood component seems a bit stronger this round.

It's my impression that changing infusion strength shifts that balance a good bit for this type of tea.  It narrows things down that astringency and mouthfeel in general isn't a concern; optimum is whatever seems best for taste.  Aftertaste is substantial too, but it still occurs in a lighter brewed version.  Probably shifting temperature would change things a little too but I can't imagine that using anything other than full boiling point water makes any sense (not that I'll check that).

It's a very nice tea experience.  I've had a hei cha before that this reminds me of, a version of Fu brick.  It's a bit simple in effect; you either like that flavor or you don't.  The flavor is complex, and it wouldn't be familiar to everyone, but to me it's likable.  I'm not going on about how clean it is but it helps a lot that there is no trace of mustiness in this tea, or that the metal, fruit, and earthy range balances as well as it does.

This tea is probably far from finished; there might be another 15 infusions to enjoy out of it.  It'll be nice if it works out that I can do another full session in the afternoon with it since I'll squeeze in a couple of more and be off for now.

Fifth infusion

completely loosened up

The balance of those aspects is definitely shifting around.  It's much stronger towards the redwood / aromatic spice range now, although there is plenty of dried persimmon flavor balancing that (and related sweetness), and a nice dryness from some very complex mineral.  That probably works well as an overall description of this tea, even though earlier the aromatic wood was lighter.

Later infusions

I drank a couple more infusions before going out, and left the tea fully drained to try again the next morning (early afternoon; I got a late start on it).  Using extended infusion times to keep the intensity up changed the character in an interesting way, drawing out more earthy leather range flavor, still with good molasses sweetness, and a bit of spice, again supported by mineral tone.  The molasses and leather trailed into a tree-bark edge, but it was still nothing like astringency in other tea types.

Placing that style; potentially related tea versions

This tea is a little different than anything that I've tried, but all the same I'd like to cover a little more about the teas closest to it in style that I've tried.  I mentioned a Yunnan Sourcing Chinese hei cha that was similar, which was their 2007 Xiang Yi "Hei Cha Zhuan" Hunan brick tea, which I reviewed here.

To be fair to this Tea Village version it probably a was a bit more refined and distinctive, beyond just not being the same thing, maybe because the extra decade of aging helped it, or maybe it started out different.  It definitely doesn't look similar, even though the brewed character shows some similarities.  This tea just reviewed is made of fine material, very tightly pressed, with that other hei cha more from larger leaf pieces, along with a good bit of stem.

the initial chunks of that tea, YS Hunan brick

broken up in a gaiwan

loosely compressed compared to this other tea (credit YS site)

Even though they're probably not the same the character was similar, so I wanted to add a bit more about what it was, from that YS vendor description, which I'll explore further with other types descriptions afterwards.  Part of the point is to try to zero in on what that tea was in more general terms; for example, would it have been pre-fermented or not (as it was described by Vee).


Back to that Yunnan Sourcing Hunan brick description:


This is from the Xiang Yi Tea Factory in An Hua county of Hunan Province.  Xiang Yi is the second oldest producer of Hunan Hei Cha after Bai Sha Xi Tea Factory.

Hei Cha Zhuan (lit. Black Tea Brick) is composed of An Hua grown tea that's been picked and processed with frying, rolling, wilting and then sun-dried.  The bricks are tightly compressed which allows for slow but determined post fermentation. These are unique from Fu Bricks in that the golden flower spores are not introduced into the tea and as such don't exist.

This particular brick was stored in An Hua County of Hunan from 2007 until June 2016.  The smell of the dry leaf is that of dried fruit... very sweet and dense fruitiness happening.  The brewed tea is sweet and thick with (not surprisingly) strong fruit sweetness (think dried plums).  Tea can be infused 7 to 10 times if brewed gong fu style.  We recommend loosening the tea using a pick into smallish chunks layer by layer.  We also recommend using a clay pot and the hottest water possible.


One of things that stands out about this tea, besides the unique character, is the unusual level of value; they sell it for $126 for a one kilogram brick.  Supply, demand, and production costs all factor into a final tea price and apparently this end up being inexpensive.  Description in my review summarized flavor aspects as:

"fig, older hay bale, mineral, and molasses as a start but really I think cocoa sort of works, and there's another dried fruit element that's quite pronounced..."


I think that may have been a bit mustier, and also complex but maybe not in exactly the same way.  It's interesting that this tea version isn't post-fermented through any piling step, isn't it?  At least as presented, but the description from original content could be clearer.  I lose track of what typically is or is not though.  I'll cite a reference about this type (the YS version; not this Tea Village tea, since it's not as clear what it even is), from Tony Gebely's Tea: A Users Guide (a really good general reference for a lot of scope):


Hei Mao Cha (黑猫茶, hēi māo chá), Semi-Finished Dark Tea

Nearly all styles of Hunan hei cha begin with the production of Hei Mao Cha or semi-finished dark tea. Hei Mao Cha is made by fixing, rolling, pile-fermenting and drying fresh tea leaves, usually from descendants of Camellia sinensis var. assamica known as Da Ye Zhong (大叶种) or large leaf type. Another way to refer to Hei Mao Cha is pile-fermented Mao Cha.


Note that this says "nearly all styles," and goes onto say this generally refers to a pile-fermented tea.  Of course the Tea Village product description cites that being made based on a Tibetan tea type instead, not Hunan (China), but versions of that aren't listed in this book reference.  The description of it as "sheng" (which means "raw") refers to it as a non-pre-fermented tea, although I'm not sure if that's intended as a conclusive description or not.

That description cited was only about the general category; a further passage from that User's Guide reference relates to this YS tea type I'd mentioned:


Hei Zhuan Cha (黑砖茶, hēi zhuān chá), Dark Brick or Black Brick Tea

Hei Zhuan Cha is a fermented tea made by steaming Hei Mao Cha and pressing it into special rectangular molds. The bricks are then dried in a warm room and wrapped. The finished product is a rectangular brick with a flat surface, usually without markings.


It doesn't fill in much, and that's especially not helpful for not clearly linking back to the tea type I'm reviewing anyway.

Tony's book does list another type from China most typically used to make Tibetan style yak-butter tea (the association to that country that does come to mind), describing that hei cha as follows:

Kang Zhuan is a style of Nan Lu Bian Hei Cha brick from Sichuan province. Kang Zhuan is made up of a mixture of older tea leaves and stems... Leaves and stems destined for Kang Zhuan are fixed, rolled, and pile-fermented...  Kang Zhuan tea is the tea of choice when making Tibetan Yak Butter Tea. Production of this tea has spread from Sichuan to Hunan and Guizhou.


Not onto Tibetan originated tea yet (given there is such a thing; I think there is), but that does mention that final preparation style from there.  That sounds a lot like a tea I tried from Moychay, an odd looking pressed large brick made from a good bit of stem material and leaves, reviewed here, and pictured as follows:

They made no type or style claims in selling that tea, and even made it clear that it wasn't like other standard types of hei cha.  That review actually covers one of my favorite sheng from them, in the first section, a really nice, fruity version from Nan Nuo.  As far as that tea goes it was a bit rustic; as I remember it tasted a bit like barn door.


Yunnan Sourcing does list a version of that last tea type (mentioned in the Tea:  a User's Guide citation), with the description connecting with that reference:

These "Kang" bricks were produced in the small tea factory in Province of Guizhou and then sent to Tibet where they were stored in a family home for more than ten years.  These are packaged in long (1 meter) bamboo baskets, about 20 to each length.  

credit related Yunnan Sourcing page, the link just cited with the text

Given this tea I reviewed seems to contain no stem material at all (unless that was ground too fine to identify), was finely ground leaves, and was well-compressed into a brick shape instead it doesn't seem to be at all related.  Even if I did research for other different Tibetan style compressed tea versions (a reasonable next step) it would be hard placing those in relation to this tea without tasting them, or probably still difficult even with trying them.  It would be easy to note how close aspects land but not possible to separate out different causes for why (eg. tea plant type differences, growing area as an input, processing differences, where the teas spent the last 20+ years).


At any rate this was an interesting and unique tea; it's always nice trying those.  With more research it would probably be possible to come to a better guess about what this is.  Enjoying it for what it is in the cup doesn't require all that; the tea was nice.


Later edit:  I spoke with a reference about what it is, with a person who would be familiar with it.  That person said it's not uncommon for fannings (ground up tea by-product) to be pressed into bricks in Yunnan, and that those products are usually sold for next to nothing.  Here is an example of one; a 6 kilogram brick that's selling on Taobao for around $29, or a 3 kg version selling for about a third of that.

Of course quality level and material used is going to vary, and how any teas taste. 

Related to the "Tibetan" background and age claims according to that reference this probably has nothing to do with Tibet, and the label doesn't look conventional for being 20 years old.  And the tea itself claims to be from from 1962, pressed onto the surface lettering:  一九六二制  literallly means "Made in 1962."  It's not relatively new raw tea material but it's absolutely not 50+ year old tea, and the claim that it's 21 years old also seems dubious based on this latest input.

I tend to not express views or background about products that is negative here, and I respect and personally like this vendor.  But at a guess this tea is just an inexpensive, relatively recent production made to be sold to tourists.  I doubt Vee knew that, and there's a good chance that he still doesn't.  There's even some chance that's wrong, but I'm completely convinced this reference source is as good as any person one could talk to.  I won't cite who that is explicitly, since there is a convention in tea circles to initiate a dramatic cycle of blame related to anyone making any negative claims at all.

It's common knowledge that one buys all teas under a "buyer beware" context.  If you spend $400 on a unique sheng pu'er-oriented product sold by a local Thai tea vendor you take a risk.  The tea is pleasant to drink, and novel (just a bit thin across feel and aftertaste aspect ranges), so at least one gets reasonable tea as part of the deal, but it had been back-story and potential for high value and rarity enabling that level of expense to make sense. 

This same theme repeats over and over related to online tea sources and local Bangkok Chinatown vendors; you really should expect the story and label content for pu'er to potentially be completely false unless you have clear reason to believe it, and not the other way around.  If you can try a tea first and buy it based on experienced aspects versus a story being told or value claim that's even better.