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Tea From Taiwan’s AliShan Black 2014
(Tea provided For
Review)
Origin: Alishan,
Chia Yu County, Taiwan
Harvest: November
2014
Cultivar:
Red Jade #18
Elevation:
1300m
Tea From
Taiwan was gracious enough to send me a couple samples after I posted my
thoughts on their DaYuLings, and they included a rather large tin of this
AliShan black tea, while I am not a fan of black and darker teas I did decided
to try this since I have had good experiences with Taiwanese Black teas in the
past. But before I go on Tea From Taiwan describes this tea as:
75 grams of black tea in metal
canister
This black tea is from
Taiwan's Alishan tea district, grown at an altitude of 1300 meters.
This is an exceptionally
smooth black tea with a naturally sweet honey flavor. This black tea has a hint
of cinnamon without any astringency.
Alishan black tea is grown
without pesticides.
Comes in an attractive metal
cannister.
Dry Leaves: The dry leaves do not have a pungent aroma, but there is a
bit of smoke in them. And the leaves are fairly uniform slightly coiled and
twisted in a loose s shape with about a fourth of the leaves having golden
tips. While it is hard to see in the photo, I did end up pouring the tin on a
platter and it becomes much more apparent than.
First
Steeping
Temperature:
200oF
Brewing
Time: One Minute
Aroma: Cinnamon
and Chocolate
Flavor: Malty
and Honey
Tasting
Notes: I decided to not follow Tea From Taiwan’s recommended brewing time
(three to five minutes) although this was not a conscious decision I was just
too lazy go online and look their recommendation up. Regardless this is a very nice
tea even when I brewed it for such a short time.
Like the
description says this is very smooth and lacks astringency. As I already
mentioned before I am not big on drinking black teas, but I do know certain
green teas do benefit from a little astringency, I wonder if the same is true
for black teas. So far this tea seems perfect the way it is, I cannot imagine
adding milk or sugar would improve it.
Second
Steeping
Temperature:
205oF
Brewing
Time: Two Minutes
Aroma: Cinnamon and Chocolate
Flavor: Malty,
Fruity and Honey
Tasting
Notes: The chocolate aroma is starting to weaken which if I am honest I do not
mind. I have not drunk “dessert” teas in quite some while, but this felt quite decadent
to me, not necessarily rich. Again you must remember I do drink a lot of sharp
greens so perhaps this is just my ignorance showing, but I rather enjoyed this
so far. While the chocolate aroma is lessening the Cinnamon is becoming more
distinct. As for the tastes there are some new fruity notes that I did not
notice until I finished my cup.
And there was a touch of smokiness to
it, something like that slight smokiness you find in barbeque sauce more so
than the smokiness found in immature puerhs.
Third
Steeping
Temperature:
Boiling
Brewing
Time: Three Minutes
Aroma: Cinnamon
Flavor: Malty,
Fruity and Honey
Tasting
Notes: The chocolate aroma is completely gone by now, but at this point the
cinnamon aroma started to weaken. Regardless the individual tastes are pretty
much the same in strength as the last steeping. While I do not have a lot of experience with
black teas, let alone Taiwanese Black teas this seems quite different from the
others I have tried. It does not necessarily feel like a breakfast tea, like
some of the black teas and teas made from Red Jade #18 that I have tried.
Nevertheless
I rather enjoyed this tea. At the time of writing this Tea From Taiwan is
selling 75g of this tea and a tin for $25.29 (marked down from $29.75) and it
seems worth the price. I do not know what kind of value black tea drinkers look
for in their teas, but this seems to me quite a steal.
Sounds pretty tasty!
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