Dear Tea Lovers,
This week, I am looking at a tea recently featured in White 2 Tea's tea of the month club for June. The box included three black Fengqing Tea balls, about 8 grams each, and of course, the tea this review is focusing on, the A&P 2016 100 gram Black tea cake. I brewed up seven grams of this tea in a 100 mL gaiwan, steeping for five seconds, adding five seconds per infusion.
For the first infusion, I immediately noticed an orange citrus flavor, followed by a floral scent. There was also a fudge aftertaste and some caramel smell to the tea. There was also a very soft lightly toasted oats taste to the tea. After drinking this tea, there was a tingly feeling on the tip of my tongue. The tart citrus taste made me want to keep drinking more. Excellent for the first infusion!
For the second infusion, the previous fudge flavors have diminished changed and into a more dark chocolate taste. There is still the tart citrus and toasted oats taste present. The tea also has mellowed out a bit and so doesn't have as strong of a tingly tip of the tongue feeling to it.
For the third infusion, There is still the tangy flavors and the dark chocolate notes There is still a floral aroma present in this infusion. The biggest change however was the mouth-feel in this particular infusion. The tea has developed a creamy thick texture to it and the oils of the tea seem to spread throughout the mouth, leaving a long lasting aftertaste.
For the fourth infusion, the creamy textures have gotten more intense, the citrus has begun to mellow out, and the dark bittersweet chocolate flavors have gone way up. The floral aroma is still there, but it is much more faint.
While this tea isn't exactly a favorite of mine, it does have a lot of flavors and interesting aromas, and is an excellent daily drinker for those looking into experiencing compressed Chinese black tea. White2Tea offers this particular cake on their website for $17.50 per cake and is definitely a black tea I would recommend to those that prefer more of a citrus and chocolate flavor to their black teas. If you tend to like more malty roasted grainy tasting black teas, I would recommend trying something else. Overall, I do enjoy this tea and I am very curious to see how it tastes a couple years from now, when the cake has settled down from the processing, and has aged a little bit.
Cheers!
The Tea Connoisseur Matt
P.s. You can pick this cake up here! Happy sipping.
