Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Damn Fine Tea
Tea Description:
We’ve noticed spring is struggling to get off the ground this year in our little corner of the USA. March came in like a lion but its fur got stuck to the permafrost so the lion continues to sit outside our door, calmly licking its paws and giving us the stare down. Fine. We’ll stare right back. Should be no problem as long as our supply of this great Keemun holds out. Good thing we have 150 2.5 ounce tins of the… Wait. We only have 150 tins? Whose idea was that?
Despite a strong desire to keep all these tins of Spring Keemun for ourselves, we offer them to you. This is a spring crop of Keemun Xiang Luo (Fragrant Spirals), so while this tea has all the usual, unmistakable tawny richness of Keemun, it is more delicate than you might expect. Lion and lamb, all at once. The leaves are so beautiful — elegant, dark, and shiny — it’s almost a shame to pour water on them! When you do, make sure the water is boiling hot and allow it to steep for at least 5 minutes. Or longer. This is a very patient tea.
Learn more about this limited-edition tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yeah … so shortly after I purchased the Yunnan Gold Tips on Canada Day, Andrews & Dunham announce that they’re offering free shipping to the USA on the 4th of July. As it turned out, I would have been safe in waiting until the 4th to get free shipping for my Yunnan tea, but, I didn’t want to take that chance that I’d miss out on the tea because at the time that I ordered, there were only 6 tins left of it. There are now – as I write this review – 2 tins left of the Yunnan.
And while I am enjoying having the Yunnan in my cupboard (it makes for a seriously tasty cuppa!) I’m even happier that I now have this Spring Keemun in my cupboard! OH YUM!
I think I’m in love with the tea that is in my teacup right now. Seriously. I have tried a lot of Keemun in my years as a tea reviewer, but I do believe that this Xiang Luo is the best Keemun I’ve tried to date. It’s delightful. So good, in fact, that I’m contemplating picking up another tin or two so that I have it on hand for many more months to come.
It is rich and smooth and delicious. There is very little astringency to this, although there is just a slight twinge of dryness toward the end of the sip. The texture is thick and almost creamy, evoking thoughts of a warm, comforting soup. But this is sweeter than a soup!
It tastes of honeyed caramel. I can almost taste the light notes of flowery pollen. There are fruit notes to this as well. Sweet, juicy plum – just the sweetness of the plum, no tartness from the fruit. Sun-ripened plums drizzled with honey and then cooked down to caramelize it. Mmm!
There is a tantalizing, cake-y, freshly baked sort of goodness to this tea too, like a cake that had just come out of the oven. You know those browned, caramelized edges of a freshly baked cake? Yeah … that’s what I taste. Again, let me say: Mmm!
Delicious! This tea is best served hot. Sure, it’s really good when it cools off, but, something is lost with the chill. The flavors mute a little and you really want to experience this tea to its fullest flavor, which means drinking ti while its still hot. Give it a few minutes to cool after you’ve poured yourself a cup, and then begin to enjoy every sip. Not that you need me to tell you to enjoy … because trust me, you will!
There are only 24 tins left of this tea – this is one you don’t want to miss out on. The only disappointing thing about this tea is the “prize” that comes with it … it’s an A&D Damn Fine Tea button. Like the kind you pin on your jacket or hat. It’s OK, I guess, but seeing as this tea is to be a celebration of Spring, I thought that they could have been a little more creative. A little toy bird like the one on the label of the tea? That would have been fun!
But it should say something to you that my only complaint about this tea is the freebie that came with it. (Well, that and the tea disappears too fast after I’ve poured a cup!) What the Spring Keemun lacks in free prize it more than makes up for in amazing flavor!
Yunnan Gold Tips Limited Edition Tea from Damn Fine Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Damn Fine Tea
Tea Description:
We’re galloping into the New Year on a 150 horse-powered infusion of Yunnan Gold Tips. Care to join us? Like a chestnut mare with a brilliant golden mane, this special tea has the might to carry you through good times and bad, and a gentle, unassuming beauty that will stir noble feelings in your breast. We wish the year of the snake a fond farewell, perhaps even a tip of the hat as it slithers away into the bushes. Now it’s time to face the road ahead. Welcome to the year of the horse — saddle up this damn fine steed and ride out to meet it!
We’ve teamed up again with our pals at Aesthetic Apparatus and made 150 tins of one of our favorites, Yunnan Jin Hao Gold Tips tea. This full-bodied black tea from China will remind you of a classic Yunnan — it’s good and strong — but the gold tips add a soft, velvety smoothness. Brew it in boiling hot water for at least five minutes and you’re off to the races. Cross the finish line and re-steep the leaves for another ride.
Learn more about this limited-edition tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been chomping at the bits to order this tea for months now, ever since it was announced. However, I have quite a bit of tea as it is, and I always seem to go a bit over my budget when it comes to tea spending, so I held off on ordering this as long as I could. I didn’t want to miss out on it – since it is a limited edition! – but I also couldn’t justify ordering it when it was announced. I waited and waited for a “free shipping” offer from Damn Fine Teas, but I never found that opportunity.
Then they offered free shipping to Canadians for Canada Day, and when I looked at this tea, I saw that there were only 6 tins of it left! Egad! I was freaking out, worried that I’d miss out on this tea while I was waiting for the 4th of July when (hopefully) they might have free shipping in the states (which they did), but I worried that this tea might sell out before the 4th arrived (it didn’t). But I still didn’t want to take that chance, so I paid for the shipping and declared that my budget be damned! It was time for some Damn Fine Tea!
I mean, it’s not like I haven’t had a golden tips Yunnan before, I’ve had quite a few lovely opportunities to try this type of tea. I didn’t really feel like I was missing out on something as far as the tea goes, but, as I’ve admitted in the past, I’m a sucker for packaging. And I didn’t want to miss out on a numbered tin which is beautifully appropriated with a vivid, yellow label with a cool horse on it. I didn’t want to not have this tin. I also needed to find out what cool little extra they’d send along with the tin. They always have a nifty little toy or something with the tin … something that corresponds with the tea. This tin came with a little rubber horse head finger puppet toy. Cool.
Yeah, go ahead and say it. I’m a nerd.
This Yunnan Gold Tips is an enjoyable tea and a nice selection for the celebration of the Year of the Horse (which was the reason behind this limited edition series). I don’t know that it’s the best Yunnan tea that I’ve ever tasted, but I’m enjoying it and happy to have it as part of my tea stash while it lasts.
The dry leaf is beautiful with it’s chocolate-y brown leaves tipped with gold. The aroma is earthy and rich, and there are hints of sweetness. The leaves brew up dark and produce a flavorful liquid that smells sweet – like molasses!
That molasses-y note translates to the flavor, and I can taste notes of sweet molasses that seem to mingle with an undertone of caramel-like flavor. It’s a hearty, robust tea with enough gusto to get someone up and running (or galloping!) on the days when you need that sort of thing. It has a leather-y, earthy quality to the flavor which is a nice contrast to the sweeter notes.
But what I like best about a Yunnan are the spice notes. And this tea has those too. They are warm and comforting, and I think that’s why I enjoy a good Yunnan like this one so much. It is an invigorating drink but there is a certain comfort to drinking it. Like waking up even though you don’t want to, but then walking into that hot shower and it feels so good that all the sudden you’re not minding waking up so much. That’s what this tea provides for me.
A really awesome tea, I’m glad that I finally ordered it. I just wish that I could have gotten the free shipping on it. Hey … Washington is right next to Canada … and I live in a city that is often confused as a Canadian city. That should count for something, eh? (See, I’m even trying to sound Canadian.)