Yunnan Jig

Drank this as an after dinner treat with almond wafers – the smooth earthiness was just right.

Curse Adagio and their samplers! I like all of the teas in their black sampler, and am beginning to panic now that I am getting low on a number of them. How to choose what to order next?

Additional notes: I wanted a peppery yunnan today, and this was the one I could think of. This tea is DELICIOUS. Possibly one of my favorite black teas. I finished off this harvest today… it’s so old yet retains so much flavor.

Does anyone know how well Adagio keeps their harvests consistent? Does the new harvest of Yunnan Jig still taste like the older harvests? Or if anyone has any concrete experiences with multiple harvests of ANY of the Adagio teas, I’d love to hear. There are a few I’ve tried that I would love to order again (Jane Austen’s mafia, Reichenbach Recovery, hazelnut, tiger eye, vanilla black, mambo, black dragon pearls, yunnan gold, caramel black…).

We got the Adagio sampler with that cute little tea pot thing-mah-jig in it. There is a small book too. I think I was mostly attracted to the pictures in it. Any who on to the tea.

If all yunnans are like this one then I like them. Nice smooth tea to keep around for those days when you don’t want to challenge your brain or tongue. That almost sounds like an insult. Perhaps, I should say a comforting tea. A hint of malt or grain with your honey like sweetness should go a long way after a hard day. There is a moderately thick mouth feel to it. While not super impressive, it’s a good solid tea to keep around.

My first pot of this yesterday I steeped for 5 minutes. I think I should have steeped a bit longer though. The golden-amber liquor was malty and sweet but a bit light-bodied compared to my last experience with this tea.

The second pot though was definitely steeped long enough. I doubt anyone would say that 45 minutes was NOT long enough. Entertaining a 3 year old and a six month old does that to your sense of time unfortunately. Thankfully this is a very forgiving tea, although I wasn’t expecting it to taste even better than the first pot. My eyes went as big as quarters at the first sip and I’m afraid the 17oz of tea did not last very long! It was sweet, malty, and mellow with a bit of a honey taste and a buttery mouth feel with only a hint of astringency in the aftertaste.

I adore Adagio’s Yunnan Noir, and now that I’m out for the time being, I’m making due with their other two Yunnans that are in my cupboard, Jig and Gold. Yunnan Gold is actually the first Yunnan of theirs that I tried and loved. Yunnan Jig is one that I’ve neglected, mainly because it’s the cheapest/lowest quality of the three. But it’s still good, and still has all of those great Yunnan qualities – the slight earthiness, the cocoa taste, and the peppery spikiness on the tongue.

Smells a little earthy and musty with a hint of Chili pepper. Wet the leaves smell like soggy noodles. There is very little astringency and it is very smooth and light in the mouth. I probably could either use more leaf or steep it longer.

This is ever-so-slightly smoky, and it’s probably the highest amount of smoky that I can tolerate. I don’t know why I don’t like smoky teas. I guess it just always reminds me of meat or something. I never liked much smoky meat, and having not eaten any meat in over 8 years, it just… isn’t a taste I like. I do like the occasional bit of smoky cheese, though… Go figure.

I like this tea. The reviews imply that it’s not quite what a Yunnan should/could be, so I would be interested in trying another. It’s a nice contrast to my usual sorts of tea.

over steeped this :( i can finally taste the pepperyness of this now though. i think i like it stronger. i was looking for a cup of something boring and un flavored, but i didnt get it lol. this tea is always interesting when i have it. it has subtle differences each time and i look forword to the next new thing that this tea pops up for me :)

This is a real classic Yunnan tea. Rich and savory flavor, with a slight cocoa powder finish. Earthy and spicy and soft, smooth, creamy mouthfeel and finish. Adagio has a variety of Yunnan teas, some that are higher rated and higher priced, but this is probably my favorite. It is beautiful to see the mixture of gold and black leaves, and the aroma of dry leaves, wet leaves and liquor are all quite nice. Just a touch of peppery flavor and it brews up well in a teapot, gaiwan or gong fu style. A really nice experience for newcomers to loose and/or Yunnan teas.

This tea has a pleasant earthy taste that is also somewhat malty. The earthiness reminds me of the puerh I tried, except that this is much more pleasant. Not my favorite, and I probably wouldn’t buy it again, but pleasant enough.