Hello Tea Friends!
Day 2 is upon us already, and it’s needless to say I wasted no time this morning opening the days mystery tea.
If you missed day 1 you can find it here.
What is in pouch number 2?
Wild Yunnan Golden Tips – a “Dian Hong Tea” (black tea from Yunnan) from ancient tea trees, growing wild at altitudes beyond 2000 meters on Yang Ta Mountain, Jinggu County, prefecture Pu Erh, in a widely untouched envirnoment. ‘Golden Tips’, pure, large, tightly haired, fluffy-soft buds, picked in spring from middle of March through middle of April every year, is Yunnan’s highest grade black tea.
I love a good Dian Hong so I couldn’t be happier.
In appearance the leaves are golden (duh) with downy hairs and a super shine. The mixture of golden and darker brown is very autumnal.
The scent is sweet and malty with a dry, wooden finish.
Steeping Parameters: 5g leaf, 200ml, 90°C water.
First Steep: 3 minutes
Once steeped the resulting tea is amber in colour and bares a sweet malt scent that matches it’s raw form.
The first sips reveal a beautiful malt flavour that’s sweet yet creamy that leads to a slightly dry after taste. Some astringency but very minor and only for a second.
It’s sweetness resembles rock sugar. There is thickness which is rather wooden/clay like but it diminishes quickly to leave the dry, malt after taste that coats the entirety of my tongue. Also getting a hint of prune/stone fruit.
Second Steep: 4 minutes
More burnt orange now in colour though it’s difficult to tell from the picture.
This steep is lighter than the first one but very easy to drink. Remains sweet and malty though delicate with an increasingly dry and somewhat astringent after taste.
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The cup used was the free gift with this advent calendar.
What a delicious Dian Hong and a wonderful day 2 of the advent.
Tune in tomorrow for day 3.
Happy Steeping!
