Li Shan Black Tea Summer '09

Black tea to get me through a Black Friday at work. Fitting. What else could impart some feeling of Zen while corralling Canadian children playing hockey in the hallways. Answer: An aged Taiwanese black tea. This stuff tastes like Buddhist chocolate. Or at least how I imagine chocolate Buddhists would taste.

I’ll stop now…this is getting weird.

i think my taste buds are off this morning as both cups of tea that i’ve had so far, seem rather bitter. I’m going to hold off rating this one for now until i can have it again.

I think it’s been about a year since Sil & I first started talking about the BBBB.
We wanted a TTB that was small – 4 people. Each person would add an oz of tea for the other 3 people. It could be one single tea, or half an oz of 2 teas, or whatever. We wanted it to be mostly black tea though, cuz that’s what we love the most. It would give us the freedom to sample teas that normally didn’t come in sample sizes.

The first round started in Oregon, came to St. Louis, went to Toronto & Thunder Bay, Ontario. It moved faster than any TTB I’ve ever been part of, because it was simple. Just take out your bag of teas, add in what you’re sharing, & drop it off at the PO. It was awesome! We were all giddy as school girls when the box came. We still are!

The first couple of rounds moved fast. We had SO MUCH TEA! LOL! We lost one member, but Tasty Brew added a grab-bag, & gradually we calmed down, so that the box is moving a little slower now, which is really good, because we all have plenty of tea to drink anyway, & the slower pace gives each of us more time to find interesting things to share! I never know what I’ll find when the box comes: random tea samples, puer, a card…this is our 7th round, & it always makes me smile.

BBBB sisters, you are awesome!! This has been so much fun. I’ve calculated our 1 year anniversary to be July 27th! Let’s party on!

Regarding this tea, from the BBBB, provided by Tasty Brew in our most recent round, it is delicious! Perhaps not as bold as some, but it’s not boring either. Not every black tea needs to slap me into awareness! A little fruity, & kind of spicy in a sweet way. It has a really nice chocolate layer to it as well, & the flavors build nicely together with each sip.

I haven’t so much been in a tea funk, but a steepster funk. I’ve still been trolling around in the background, but since we got back from vacation, and I got out of the steepster habit, I haven’t been motivated enough to actually write anything.

Until I had this tea. YUM!!! This tastes like a super rich version a TTC black 4 seasons tea, or maybe a cross between the 4 seasons and the golden dragon. Regardless, it’s amazing. Sweet, cinnamony, jammy, delicious. Super stoked by J-Tea. One of these days I’ll have to drive the 1.5 hours down to Eugene and check out his shop. I just joined his tea club too. Very excited!

BBB ladies, I bought enough of this to share with you and I’m pretty sure you’ll love it. It’s not a bold chinese tea, but still….