Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Valley
Tea Description:
Our Phoenix Yunnan Gold is quickly becoming a favorite in our fine selection. The lasting sweetness in every cup will keep you brewing for more. If you enjoy black teas, this is certainly not one you would want to miss out on.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve been busy trying to get my tea stash organized – that’s my only excuse with being so behind on reviewing the teas from February’s Steepster Select box! Of all the months to be behind … February is not the month is not the month I would have chosen (fewer days to get caught up!)
This is the first of the three teas that I’m reviewing, and it is the only black tea of the three selections. This month’s theme is “Year of the Dragon” to commemorate the Chinese New Year. About their choice of this tea, Steepster stated:
The Yunnan Gold varietal uses the robust leaves of classic Yunnan black teas with a healthy portion of young, golden buds. In Chinese culture, the Phoenix is a complement to the dragon, forming both sides of Yin and Yang respectively, and we think the bold, fruity flavor of this brew is a fitting complement to the other teas in this month’s box. It’s a tea for coffee lovers, and it comes to us by way of The Tea Valley, a company founded by a China expatriate named Chaozhou, who returned to his birthplace to rediscover tea and its heritage.
Whatever reason they chose to put this tea in the Steepster Select box for this month, I’m good with it … because this tea is fantastic. It is a richly flavored tea with a delicious spiced overtone. I find that this tea is best served hot, but not piping hot. After it’s had a few moments to cool, the aforementioned spice notes seem to really come alive.
In the above description from the minds at Steepster, they mention that this is a tea for coffee lovers, and I understand where they’re coming from with that statement. It is a very full-flavored tea, quite bold and in that way it is quite similar to coffee. Fortunately, though, this lacks the bitterness that I have experienced with coffee – instead, I get a lovely honey-esque sweet note that I can’t ever recall tasting with coffee.
This is a remarkable Yunnan – deserving of high praise!
