T Stands For Black Tea

 

Happy Labor Day to all who live in the states and happy Labour Day to my Canadian friends.

I want to begin by apologizing for my really poor review of the Oolong tea last week.  I was still so sick from food poisoning, I was just totally out of it.  By "it," I mean I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote that review.  Had it not been for Amila's brilliant review, I would not have even known I had been sent four different types of Oolong.

To make matters worse, my very understanding contact, Zoey, who can be reached any time at zoey@iteaworld.com, explained the brew I reviewed:

is our Fenghuang Dancong.  This Dancong is our ancient tree tea. 1. This tea belongs to the category of traditionally roasted teas, with heavy roasting and fermentation. It has a good flavor, not too fragrant 2. The advantage of old tree tea is sweetness and good aftertaste, but the downside is its mildness. People who drink ancient tree tea less often might find it plain, tasteless, or light.

That certainly explains why I was unsatisfied with the taste of Fenghuang Dancong. 

I want to share this brochure that came with my tea.  You can scan the QR code or go to https://iteaworld.com/.  Alternately, you can go here: https://bit.ly/iteaworld.  I believe I scanned it so you can actually read it, if you choose.

 

 Here you can read the history of the company, which I found fascinating.

 

Today I'm reviewing black tea.  I received samples of four different types:

Yingde Black Tea (the tea I will be reviewing)

Yunnan Black Tea
Souchong Black Tea
Wild Souchong Black Tea 

 

Black tea is one of the most popular types of loose leaf tea. It goes through more oxidation during processing compared to other teas, which gives it a bold, robust flavor.

 

This is Yingde Black Tea.  I liked that it was from the modern high mountain tea gardens.

 

It was time to once again follow the rules for "kung fu tea."

 

I read this can be brewed up to seven times, but I only had enough bottled water for six brews.

 

One quick click of my camera and the water washing the tea was removed.  You can see the plastic vessel in the background that I will be using for the excess water.  In the upper right of the photo is the bottled water I used.  I removed the label so not to detract from the tea process.  I loved there were two distinct colors of the tea leaves.

 

Unlike last week, I didn't take photos of each time I brewed this tea.  Instead, I only took photos of the first and sixth brews before I removed the leaves from the tea.

 

Here is the tea after I have removed most of the leaves.  Sadly, you can see the view outside my dining room windows and overhead lights, too.

 

This is what it looked like as I was about to take my first sip.

 

This is all that's left of the tea.  I found this tea very refreshing and actually quite sweet.  It is too silky and sweet to add sugar or sweeteners, at least in my opinion.  If I were a consummate tea drinker, I would probably drink this quite often.

 

I still have three black and three Oolong teas to try, so over the next few months, I will be sharing these choices, too.  However, I first need to buy mineral water.  I hope a few of you will try these teas, as Zoey would like to give out more samples for an honest review of iTeaWorld tea.

 

I apologize for blogger.  It hates me today.  I tried and tried to left adjust all my photos, but all of a sudden, blogger chose to center adjust.  I even deleted the post and started over again, but this time, not only did I get center adjust on many of the photos, it also changed the font and the color of the font, rather indiscriminately.  I sincerely hope that won't distract from the review.

 

Now it's time to share your own drink related post.  Your photos don't have to be taken on Tuesday, but they should be somehow drink related.  Art, books, stories, or even a good pot of tea will be memorable when you link below and are visited by your fellow T community.

 

I'll be late visiting tonight because I am going to a bbq/picnic.  I'll drop by when I get home and most of you will be asleep.