Earlier this year, I tasted Tea Rebellion’s Forever Spring oolong, and I was intrigued by this black tea which was made from the same varietal.
Description: “It brews a bright, translucent amber with fragrant notes of honey, maple syrup, and the classic floral scent of Oolong made from the Forever Spring varietal.”
Instructions: Two spoonfuls or 6g | 200ml | 1 min | 95°C/ 203°F | Re-steep up to 4 times, adding steeping time with each brew.*
*Jhentea, the producer of the tea, also had guidelines, which is more in line with gongfu style brewing. I used it in conjunction with the recommendations from Tea Rebellion.
Review: The dry leaves were small tightly rolled dark ash black coloured leaves with some reddish stems. It had warm baked goods and fruity smell with a hint of roasted nuts.
Infusion 1 (50 seconds – 1 minute): The reddish amber liquor had a deep roasted, nutty, and mineral smell. The tea tasted sweet, like malt, and cherries, with some mineral and damp earth notes. There was a hint of bitterness at the tail end of the sip with dryness that lingered in the back of the throat and teeth.
Infusion 2 (30 seconds): The liquor was a slightly darker reddish-brown liquor with an earthy and mineral smell. The liquor was less sweet and more woody and earthy with a faint malt and spiced note. There was some dryness in the mouth.
Infusion 3 (30 seconds): Colour-wise, the liquor was a darker amber-brown colour with a roasted and nutty smell. There was also a faint floral scent, which is common for the Forever Spring varietal. The taste was similar to Infusion 2 but fainter with woody, earthy notes, in addition to a minerality and some sweetness.
Infusion 3 (40 seconds): The flavour started to wane from the dark brown liquor. It tasted like liquorice, earthy, woody, and dates and was less drying in the mouth.
The broken large brown leaves and stems had a charcoal, nutty and earthy smell. I tasted this tea with chocolate bread which was a nice pairing!
Overall, this was a nice black tea with sweeter malt notes. It is an easy-going morning black tea without the bite some breakfast blends have. It would also work nicely as an afternoon sip or for someone who is still learning about black teas or teas from Taiwan (3.5/5 rating).
Type: Black tea
Origin: Taiwan
Caffeine: Unknown
Ingredients: Black tea
Company: Tea Rebellion
The question of the post:
2 comments
Sounds delicious!
I haven’t really been drinking much black tea recently for some reason but this sounds fantastic