This is another special dian hong from Wuliang Shan, a mountainous nature preserve that supports old growth tea forest areas. This dian hong has plenty of buds and is a mao feng pluck (a bud and two leaves). The tea is made from ‘old tea tree’ leaf materials – evidenced in the impressive and beautiful size of the tea leaves.
The flavor of this tea is rich, creamy, well-balanced and satisfying. The aroma of the leaf is soft and has the sweet aroma of fresh baked pound cake or coffee cake. We love Yunnan black teas, especially teas from this area. With no resting under its belt at this time, this dian hong has yet to develop the cascade of buttery, caramel flavor notes (that it will in approximately a year! ). With just a hint of raisins, toast, bananas foster and fruity-coffee flavors showing at this still-youthful stage of its development, there is much to look forward to with this leaf. Buy as much as you can and put it in a safe, stable environment and you will have a great tea for many years.
NOTE AUG 2021: Clearly this tea has been ‘discovered’ in China and other parts of East Asia. This is younger leaf than I have ever needed to purchase, but there is no rested leaf available anymore, anywhere, any year, for two years now – it is all being snatched up by people like me who have grown to appreciate it and now grab it when it is released and then sit on it for however long it takes for it to mature into its greatness. (Very similar to French wine and sheng Pu-erh)
We here at Tea Trekker have been buying two to three years ahead for about a decade now, and now you can do the same thing – this tea will be worth at least double this value in two to three years and will be awesome. It is very wonderful now, but if you can…wait to drink it…and the treat will be yours!
Even most ‘tea-resistant’ coffee-drinkers love this tea – and we know that it is just fine with a little milk, too.
But for truest flavor, drink it as the locals in Yunnan do – plain. It is smooth (no astringency) and really quite full and rich in mouth-feel. It is extremely delicious and enjoyable in the cup now, or, do as we try to do every year and set some aside for further resting and maturing.