Tea: Fruit Aroma Yixing Black Tea
A Yunnan Red from Yunnan Sourcing
| Brand: | Yunnan Sourcing |
| Style: | Yunnan Red |
| Region: | Jiangsu, China |
| Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
| Loose? | Loose |
| # Ratings: | 1 View All |
| Product page: | Fruit Aroma Yixing Black Tea |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1453 teas reviewed
✓ 42 of Yunnan Red
✓ 501 of Black Tea
✓ 33 of Yunnan Sourcing
✓ 5 from Jiangsu, China
✓ 382 from China
Review of Fruit Aroma Yixing Black Tea
September 2nd, 2021
| Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
| 7 of 10 | 4 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 87 of 100 |
| Very Good | Good | Good Value |
This tea heavily underwhelmed me, and particularly, it was too weak. My favorite aspect of it was the fragrance of the dry leaf, but after that, it disappointed me.
The dry leaf has an unbelievably potent and incredily pleasing aroma. To me it seems more malty than anything else, strong smells of grain and baked goods, with hints of cocoa or chocolate. It's less fruity than I expect from the description. The leaf smelled good. But it was, unfortunately, the best aspect of this tea, and out-of-step with the rest of the experience.
The cup is a lot less interesting than I had hoped for such a potent aroma. The aroma is evident but not quite as explosive as that of the dry leaf. The flavor is sweet but otherwise muted and somewhat bland, and there's a little less astringency than I'd like unless you brew this tea very strongly. The deficiencies can be remedied by using more leaf or a longer steep, but I found that if I do this, this tea becomes a bit overbearing in a way that I'm not easily able to pin down, and it's also kind of muddled. I liked the flavor a bit more as it cooled; there was a honey-like sweetness in the finish that was pleasant.
The second steep was always disappointing for me, and I was never able to get more than two steeps out of it. If I brewed this tea anything other than very strongly, the second steep was weak. If I brewed it very strongly, the second steep was rather boring and forgettable, with little aroma left.
This tea grew on me slightly, but it always remained below the level of most teas from Yunnan Sourcing. It struck me as quite similar to the two Jin Jun Mei's I recently purchased from YS, perhaps more like the Premium Grade AA one, but I liked this tea less than either, mainly because it was less aromatic and needed more leaf to be strong enough to be to my liking. Even though this was cheaper than either of those teas, I thought it offered lower value, in large part because it was inadequate unless I used a huge amount of leaf.
