Bai Lin Congfu

Backlog:

I have tried three different teas from Joseph Wesley Black Tea and I loved all three. (The other reviews will be posted soon! Yeah, I’m still behind.) It would be hard for me to choose a favorite from the three that I tried. I could curl up in a cup of any one of them and be a happy tea sipper.

I love this company. They celebrate the beauty of tea. The artistry of it. Tea is something that should be celebrated … and I like that Joseph Wesley embraces that.

A beautiful dry leaf. Dark brown with lots of golden tips. The aroma is earthy.

The flavor is remarkably smooth and rich. Imagine warm, silky caramel. Yeah … that’s what I taste here. Luxurious and decadent. Indulgent! In my full-length review of this tea (see it here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/11/16/no-6-bai-lin-congfu-black-tea-from-joseph-wesley-black-tea/ ) I compare tasting this tea to licking the batter from a beater after mixing up a chocolate cake: you know you shouldn’t be so indulgent but you can’t resist. This tea … tastes like that. Indulgent … but what makes this better than the chocolate cake batter is that it’s guilt free!

A must try.

The dry smell of Bai Lin Congfu is heavy on the dust. Strangely though, it’s a clean sort of dust–the kind you’d find at a well-run bakery. In the cup, this quiets down a lot, bringing you more of the saccharine fruit notes to come.

Our first infusion, all dressed up in a amber-red liquor, brings us Honey Nut Cheerios. This is all well and good, unless… Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/11/09/snooty-tea-review-joseph-wesley-black-tea-round-2/

Sipdown. May 2016
2min, 200F
Still as good as ever – malt, honey chocolate
Very good Chinese black, did not want it to end. Steeped at least one more time before I said goodbye.

this is honestly the most perfect black tea, fight me.

I have been keeping this for ‘special occasions’ which is something that is very arbitrary, like I made some this morning to take to work because I just felt like…NO. let’s not go to work and instead send the boss an email to say that we* are simply Not Able to come. Not Able. what we ARE able to do is go right back to bed and sleep for one hundred years. those were my feelings this morning, but I went to work anyway. my fingers turned gray because of the books I’m working on, it wasn’t worth it even though this tea is perfect in every way.

anyway, this tea is malty-dark chocolatey-figgy-goodness. marshmallow-y smelling and beautiful. I hope that one day it will be restocked, but I don’t think much has been restocked from Joseph Wesley, which is a shame bc those were some of my favourite teas.

*the royal we. but here it just means me & my cat. hhhhahahahaa.

Damn, the chocolate notes and fig are coming nicely. This is a sad goodbye, and one in which I’m dangerously high on caffeine. I am having such a huge euphoria right now. I need to keep in mind to use less leaves if I ever drink this again ‘cause hot damn it’s smooth.

This is why it is so highly rated. I was happy with it before, but now I deeply enjoy it. The chocolate notes are super rich even into the later steeps. Sorry, tea snob vocab. IT IS A SMOOTH TEA THAT IS CREAMY AND ROASTY. I am so lucky to have another tea that is very close to this one ’cause damn I would be desperate if I did not have some. Talk about getting a quick fix. #caffeineaddictproblems.

I finished up an overdue tea cabinet re-org a week or two ago, and in doing so came across several teas that had gotten shuffled to the back of the cabinet. Several of my Joseph Wesley teas were in the mix. This one has a lovely aroma – my favorite for a black tea – sweet, dark chocolate. This didn’t translate as well into the cup of tea after steeping, but there was a nice malty flavor I still enjoyed. Not as incredibly delicious as their Classic Chinese, but still a satisfying cup.

Side note – I really hope Joseph Wesley isn’t gone forever! Their teas are so good!

This tea is good, quite good. It is slightly malty. It has chocolate notes. It can be described as creamy. It is one of the best black teas I have tried.

I brewed this once in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 185 degree water for 2 min.

I am brewing this gongfu style. The leaves in a warm gaiwan smell chocolatey and buttery. It has kind of graham cracker crust or toffee scent as well. The wet leaves smell perfumed and floral with fig notes.

The flavor of the first infusion is really pleasant. It’s a good mix of dark fruit flavor like plum or fig, with buttery and floral notes. There really isn’t much bitterness to be found here and the feel of the tea is really smooth.

The second infusion is tasting more floral and plum like, really buttery and mouth-filling, juicy. There are notes of chocolate in the aroma of the liquor. The finish of the flavor is like malt and dark chocolate.

By the third infusion the flavor is darker and more sweet. Notes of chocolate come through more strongly. The flavor is rich and more fruity than floral. There are lingering notes of cinnamon.

The fourth infusion is also deep and rich. More of the same flavors as the third, but not quite as sweet.

I was overall impresed by this tea. I have never had tea from Joseph Wesley before, much less even heard of this company before I got this sample, so I’m glad I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve only had maybe three Bailin Gongfu teas before but this was easily my favorite one. Might have to put this on my wishlist! Thanks mtchyg for the sample!

Uhhhhm ok so this tea? so good. So so so freakin good!
The first steep was wonderful. Even after it had cooled a bit, I found the flavour to have an essence of warmness about it. Like sitting by a fire, but not too close.
Something creamy in there as well. I found that there were fleeting hints of cocoa as well, but never for long enough for me to grasp it.
The second steep was good too, more like the traditional high quality keemums I first fell in love with and then couldn’t find again, years ago. Not quite as warming or dark, with definite emerging cocoa notes this time, and an edge of creaminess. Finally, I noticed a lingering honey like sweetness in the aftertaste.
It’s been a long time since I was excited about a third steep, so fingers crossed it delivers!

I think I am going to need to try brewing this one again. I followed the brewing instructions that came with the tea and it left me feeling like this tea wasn’t as flavorful or bold as other teas of similar quality. It is a good tea. It is just, as brewed, not quite on the level of others that I have had. I’ll update as needed.

Edit: I brewed in a gaiwan gong fu style this time around with slightly cooler temps. Seemed better flavors came out this time around.