Golden Imperial Lotus

This was my to go tea this morning. A great price so I pulled the trigger. I love the artisan factor being that it is a rosette. With my previous brewing I was in awe watching it fall to the bottom of the cup. Like a blooming green. I think this is a good tea. It reminds me of nice Chinese black. Malty. I don’t know if I get chocolate out of it, but it’s definitely grainy and has that nice baked flavor. Either like bread or potatoes. See Bai Lin Gongfu tasting. I let it sit in my travel mug for the drive to work and did not get bitter. I have to agree though that 40 for the tin is a tad steep…no pun intended. However the post steep rosette does have some cocoa notes wafting up. It’s also fun to freak out my co-workers with the urchin like appeal. Some of you may remember a song from R.E.M that came out ohhhh circa 98 by the name of Lotus. I was a freshman in college and had just started getting involved with the campus radio station. WBWC still has a soft spot in heart. http://youtu.be/vu2jN3d2zzU Haven’t you noticed…I ain’t the lotus. Make it rain :)

Lovely malty tea with chocolate notes. I also get a strong honey association. So smooth with out astringency or bitterness. It’s too bad they no longer sell this one. It’s one I would probably go back for.

I am surprised that I hadn’t logged this yet. I’ve had it for quite a while.

I decided since it’s the crack of not even dawn yet and I have some time before my doctor appointment, I was going to make a pot of tea in my one and only yixing teapot. I’ve dedicated it to yunnan black tea and I’ve decided this counts. This is the first one I’ve made in this pot since I seasoned it last week or so. I haven’t quite gotten cup size yet, and I haven’t found a tea brush to brush the tea onto the pot, but I’ve repurposed an old blush makeup brush to do the job for now. Seems to work. Either the tea dries really quickly on the pot or it really is getting absorbed! Right now it’s cooling down so I don’t burn my tongue.

Definitely brewed this a little weak, but it has that yunnan black taste to it regardless. A little bit tobacco, a little bit leather. Mostly good, although not nearly as good as some of my others. Perhaps I’ll do the second steep a couple of minutes longer.

Seems everyone here got this tea during the end of year Teavana clearance sale, and who wouldn’t? I got this tea mainly because of the cheap price, I didn’t know what to expect, had never read reviews about this tea or anything. A pure impulse buy.

The tea comes in a nice black tin and the rosettes inside a foil bag. The dry leaf gives a nice spicy aroma and each rosette is made of a mix of golden and black fuzzy tips, they almost look like small tarantulas.

I brewed this tea in a small teapot using only one rosette and following the suggested brewing guidelines from the tin (2-3 min steep time and 185-200F water).

The tea brews a nice dark brown liquor with a smooth malty flavor and chocolaty hints. It wasn’t strong or bitter, even after the first cup, where I left the rosette in the water for maybe another 4-5 mins, the tea just became slightly stronger in taste but not bitter at all.

The leaves after being infused, loose their golden and black colors and become a nice dark brown-red (almost red clay colored) rosette. The rosette also “blooms” like those art teas expanding itself in to a little dark red flower. Great for displaying in a glass tea pot.

Overall, this tea is a great, easy to brew, tea that pairs well with breakfast in the mornings. I enjoyed the flavor but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. The rosettes look like they were made from tying up Yunnan Gold tea and they taste pretty similar. So while I paid a cheap price for this tea, I would’ve never gotten it for the full price Teavana was asking for ($40), especially since you can get loose Yunnan black/gold/pure gold for a much affordable price from other vendors. Still, it is a nice looking tea (dry and wet rosettes are lovely to look at) with a great taste and packed in a nice tin. If you are still able to find this tea on sale, I’d say go for it, as it seems Teavana has already discontinued it.

This one is good to me, i nace dark black tea, malty. Thanks DJBooth!

After the Nine Dragon this morning I had a desire for another black. I thought about the two from the prosperity set, but then glanced over at the two tins of this I picked up the Heavenly Sale. I had bought a tin for my husband for Father’s Day at 40% off and he liked it so I couldn’t pass up the 75% off after the holidays, however he told me he doesn’t drink it often enough. I may give the third bag to my brother-in-law when he runs out as I bought him one after Christmas, he loved it and bought a second, but you can bet I’m keeping the tins.

On to the tea, I’ve tried it before, but I don’t think I’ve had a full cup. I always had the impression that you could leave it at the bottom of the cup, but the directions are a bit unclear, yes it says you don’t need a strainer and that it steeps for 2 to 3 mins and you can reuse it but it doesn’t say keep adding water or remove, so I removed on the first steep and left it in on the second. The first was much better, richer, more chocolaty, a really good black tea. The second was more like Nine Dragon, more honey and dry. May try a third steep as I usually don’t like second steeps in general.

One of my favorit black teas, though I only bought it when it was on sale for $5. It has a very earthy sort of taste with very little astringency. I am usually able to get at least 3 quality steep’s out of each bundle without loosing much taste.

I’m on the first steep and it really is a lovely black tea that I can immediately recognize as high quality. Watching the rosette bloom was a lovely little perk as well. Luckily this was on clearance though because honestly I’d never pay full price.

Don’t follow the directions on the tin unless you want a dull flavourless cup of tea. I use just bellow boiling water and let the rosettes sit for about 4 to 5 minutes for a nice brisk flavourful cup. An overall good tasting tea but is it really worth $40 for about 4oz of tea? The high price must come from the very chic and re-usable tin and for the fact that the tea is all tied by hand and can be re-steeped several times. This would be a great gift to give to someone who enjoys tea.

Strong but not overbearing. I add sugar to most teas(got a bit of a sweet tooth), I would say that this tea melds rather well with sweeter notes. Having the earthy overtones and the light floral flavors to back them, it makes for a nice, smooth drinking experience. Not extravagant by any means, but a worthwhile cup nonetheless.