This is a review of loose leaf black tea Black Silk (Golden Bi Luo) . It was reviewed by by The Little Yellow Teapot of The Little Yellow Teapot Tea Reviews.

Water temperature: 212° F
Steeping time: 3-5 mins.
Tea type: Black
Dry leaves: Curled, tan to black, raisiny/plumy/date-ish aroma

1st Infusion:
Steeping time — 3 mins.
Aroma, plain — Malty, light
Taste, plain — Malty, light, not bitter, great straight, takes on slight date quality as cools
Color, plain — Reddish brown
Taste, enhanced — Caramelly quality<

2nd Infusion:
Steeping time — 4 mins.
Aroma, plain — Light
Taste, plain — Light
Color, plain — Lighter, reddish brown

Comments:

The company’s site says only that this tea is made of Chinese black tea. Actually, this is Yunnan Gold, also called Golden Bi Luo. I tried one from Chicago Tea Garden a little over a year ago and another one from TeaGschwendner in August, 2010. The ladies of Element Tea have also just confirmed this. Yunnan Gold is considered one of the better black teas, and their price is quite reasonable, certainly when compared with their competition in the tea market, as shown here:

Element Tea price as of 29 Dec 2010 on their site:
4 oz (up to 50 cups) at $15.95 — $3.99 per ounce

Chicago Tea Garden price as of 23 April 2011 when I checked their site:
3.53 oz at $28.99 — $8.21 per ounce
5.29 oz at $40.99 — $7.75 per ounce

TeaGschwendner price as of 23 May 2010:
.05 kilo (1.77 oz) at $7.76 — $4.38 per ounce

We opened the foil-lined pack and saw a lovely sight: curled tea leaf pieces of the typical size, shape, and color for this tea type. After steeping, the full story is revealed, the careful plucking and sorting this tea underwent to give you just those tender tip leaves:

This tea can take milk well in the first infusion. Hubby and I also added a touch of sweetener. The second infusion is lighter and tastes great straight. You could just do one stronger steeping if you prefer. Play around a bit to find out what suits you. At their price, you can go with one infusion and still get your money’s worth. Another option is to only use half as much water for the second infusion (we used 16 oz. for each).

Hubby loved the sight of those tip leaves so much, he laid one out by itself in a little white bowl to be photographed.

Overall, this is another high-quality tea from the tea ladies in the Mile High City of Denver, certainly worth being served in one of our special bone china rose-covered teacups and saucers.

Read More

This is a review of our loose leaf black tea Assam Satrupa FTGFOP1. It was reviewed by The Little Yellow Teapot of The Little Yellow Teapot Tea Reviews.

Water temperature: 212° F
Steeping time: 4 mins.
Tea type: Black
Dry leaves: Broken leaf pieces, black color, faint aroma

1st Infusion:
Steeping time — 4 mins.
Aroma, plain — Strong and typical of Assams
Taste, plain — Strong, slightly bitter, toasty/malty, packs a punch!
Color, plain — Dark reddish-brown
Taste, enhanced — Milk and sweetener bring out malty/caramelness

2nd Infusion:
Steeping time — 5 mins.
Aroma, plain — Lighter
Taste, plain — Light, not bitter even as it cools
Color, plain — Lighter reddish-brown
Taste, enhanced — Too light for milk

Comments:
As with the other samples from this vendor, the foil-lined pack held a lovely sight: large tea leaf pieces, not dust in a bag. Bravo! While hubby and I realize that teadust does not always mean inferior quality nor do larger pieces, like this tea has, indicate better quality. However, they do mean that the steeping will be a bit more measured, not quite so immediate. It gives you more chance to “play” with the tea, steeping it longer or shorter to suit you.

After steeping, the stem and pieces show clearly and are a dark coppery color.

This is a fairly strong tasting tea, which was a bit surprising for an Assam like this. Not complaining. Quite the contrary. Hubby says it packs quite a tea punch, perfect for a breakfast tea. It takes milk well in the first steeping (the second one was a bit too light). With or without milk, some type of sweetener is necessary for us. If you like your tea plain, you might try rinsing the leaves briefly before the first steep (pour a little hot water over them in the pot, swish, then drain and add the rest of the water and steep. Another option is to do two steepings and combine them to give a lighter taste.

I was hoping that hubby could whip up some more pancakes to go with this tea as he had with another tea we had tried recently, but he had already had some toast and yogurt, so he was full. You might say, “You could fix them yourself.” I would have to answer, “Yeah, right!” Instead, I just had some yogurt and grapes with the tea.

Read More

This is a review of loose leaf black tea Nepalese Orange Pekoe SFTGFOP1. It was reviewed by by The Little Yellow Teapot of The Little Yellow Teapot Tea Reviews.

Water temperature: 212° F
Steeping time: 4 mins.
Tea type: Black
Dry leaves: Broken leaf, dark-to-light green and copper color, fresh aroma

1st Infusion:
Aroma, plain — Richly nutty
Taste, plain — Light taste, slightly astringent
Color, plain — Light amber
Taste, enhanced — Sweetener tames astringency, more nutty

2nd Infusion:
Aroma, plain — Lighter, still nutty
Taste, plain — Light taste, slightly astringent as cools
Color, plain — Light amber
Taste, enhanced — Sweetener tames astringency

Comments:
If you like your black tea without milk, here is another one to add to your list. A bit of sweetener may be needed to curb the slight astringency.

The SFTGFOP1 means Special (or Super) Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe of the first quality. (The numeral “1” gets added sometimes as almost an exclamation point, as in “This is really good tea!”) See more info on this labeling system.

The tea leaves get broken up a bit in the processing, but they don’t get ground to dust. After steeping them, you will see the stem and pieces clearly.

We found the first steeping to be a bit astringent and needing some sweetener, but it was too light for milk. Hubby experimented to confirm this. The second steeping was milder and only became a bit edgy as it cooled, as is often the case with black teas. A touch of sweetener solved the problem, though. One thing you might try is to do two steepings and combine them. Sure the first one will cool a bit, but it’ll warm up when added to the second one and then only need that touch of sweetener, or just have something sweet to eat with it.

Overall, this is another nice tea from the tea ladies in the Mile High City of Denver. It deserved being sipped from one of our finer floral teacups.

Read More