Yunnan Breakfast Black

This tea has a pretty mild scent when brewed. The taste was the opposite though — very strong, bold, but lacks the astringency usually associated with breakfast teas. It has a nice, even, rounded, smooth and deep flavor.

Backlog:

Bold and robust, just as promised in the description of this tea. This is the kind of tea you want to reach for first thing in the morning when you need that kick in the pants.

Invigorating!

Sweet, like thinned molasses. Earthy, rich, somewhat woody (like slightly smoked wood) with notes of stone fruit – plum? – and black currant. Zesty, peppery. Moderately astringent.

This takes to the additions of milk and sugar well (try it with a little brown sugar to enhance those molasses notes!) A really fine breakfast tea.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/06/18/yunnan-breakfast-black-tea-from-simple-loose-leaf/

I just brewed up this tea to make my first batch of Kombucha! I went off on an adventure today to meet with guy about a SCOBY. Now I have a huge scoby mother and she’s off fermenting in my closet hopefully making some delicious brews.

Sipdown (97)! And a backlog. I just noticed in my previous tasting note that I didn’t think that this breakfast blend was all that special. I still agree that it is a pretty straightforward breakfast tea, but this time around, I got some subtle smokiness in there that I didn’t taste before. That smidgen of smoke actually intrigued me a bit and is the reason I’m gonna bump up the rating a bit on this tea. Like I said in my previous tasting note, I do have quite a selection of breakfast blends, so I probably will not be reordering this one any time soon. I did very much enjoy it while it lasted, though!

The dry leaf for Yunnan Breakfast Black is very dark, with a scattering of golden tips. I’ve seen tippier Yunnan black teas, but this is decent. The dry smell is of malt, cocoa, and a bit of smoke. Brewed up, the tea is a deep umber colour and gives off a rich smell of malt, cocoa, and tobacco, with a little bit of sweet potato thrown in.

If my mother smelled this, she’d probably say the same thing she says whenever I brew up straight black tea like this: “This is real tea! Just give me some orange pekoe!” (Needless to say, my burgeoning interest in loose-leaf tea in all its variety – flavoured, unflavoured, black, green, white, oolong, herbal, pu’erh – has been met with wry amusement in my household.)
There’s very little bitterness or astringency in this tea, despite the depth and darkness of the flavour. So what character does it make me think of?

Since it’s Father’s Day today, I tried to think of famous fathers in fiction that would fit this. And in keeping with my mother’s imagined (but probably accurate) sentiment, I thought in particular of a father that was honest, decent, and straightforward: Atticus Finch.

But why did it make me think of him? My post at http://christinavasilevski.com/2014/06/sunday-tea-books-yunnan-breakfast-black/ explains it all.

I wasn’t terribly impressed with this one, but I’d drink it if it was around. Now that I am fancy enough to tell the difference between the two, I find that this was both bitter and astringent. I’ll perhaps try this with a shorter steep time and see if that makes a difference.

It is a black tea from Yunnan, China, meaning that there are a few delightful gold fuzzy leaves. Since I was brewing this in my gaiwan I ignored the instructions and used my usual technique for brewing Yunnan Black/Red teas (195, 30 seconds and add 30 for each steep). The aroma of the dry leaves is a mix of pine resin, pepper, stewed cherries, and an aged oak cask. It smells like fruit, scotch, and smoke-less Lapsang Souchong. What an unusual tea!

Brewing the tea brings out more of the woody quality with the oak/scotch aroma and pine resin aroma being at the forefront. There is still a hint of fruit sweetness, but it is more an afterthought. The liquid is pine smoke and molasses.

This tea is brisk and strong! Breakfast blend is a perfect description because I am certainly awake now. The taste is a blend of molasses, pine resin, oak wood, and lastly honey. For all this tea’s strength, it is not bitter or unpleasant, it is sweet and intense.

The second steep, I have gone from awake to vibrating so fast that I have torn a small hole in reality. That is the mark of a good breakfast tea. The taste is very brisk, though not nearly as sweet. This steep has a bit of smoke and pine resin. There is a midtaste of molasses and a finish of pepper.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/06/simple-loose-leaf-june-subscription-box.html

I am a little disappointed with this tea. I picked it as the sample that accompanied my May subscription choices. I thought I could never go wrong with a Chinese black!

Perhaps I didn’t steep it right? 2.5 minutes @ 205? Either way, I got a very dark brew that tastes quite bitter but at the same time does not have much of a body. It feels like it’s weak, and yet it’s bitter. Odd. It is also pretty tasteless. The note I detect is… generic tea note. I know it sounds stupid, but there’s just not much more to it.

I am really curious how this will taste to others. It is not a horrible tea. I can easily finish the cup… I don’t think I will go for a resteep though. It is just so… uneventful.

Perhaps I just got spoiled with teas like Yezi’s Jin Pin or Damn Fine Tea blends from Cavocorax ;)

I could not find this on the website. I have contacted Simple Loose Leaf to see if this is still available. So no picture and no product detail. Actually no real review yet. This is more about being consistent. I normally use a 10-12 oz mug. I had the bright idea this morning I would use a 5-6 oz cup instead. That would be fine had I adjusted the amount of leaf and/or the steeping time. So one scoop of leaf equivalent to about 2 tsp and a 3 minute steep is way too much for this little cup. So its dark, strong, and bitter. I can tell it had some nice smoky/chocolate notes but they are overcome. A packet of Splenda in such a tiny cup is just as bad of an idea. Sure it softens the bitterness but now it tastes like bottled tea. Who needs it that sweet? Time to reboot my day. I owe this tea a better review. I mean its Yunnan tea!