Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: small, dark and twisted with lots of golden tips
Ingredients: black tea
Steep time: 30 seconds
Water Temperature: 190 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: deep reddish brown
If there’s one thing I’m a sucker for it’s beautiful leaves, especially in a black tea. This one was particularly beautiful as most of them were covered in downy golden hairs. Although the steeping instructions provided were western style, I couldn’t resist gongfu-ing it and I am so glad that I did. The taste was rich and toasty with a natural sweetness. Have you ever had really good maple syrup? So good that wanted to just drink it, despite the disgusted looks that you would get from the other diners? That’s the closest that I can come to describing this tea. The mouth-feel was thick and almost creamy with hardly any astringency. The care that Joseph Uhl takes with selecting his teas is obvious in everything from the packaging itself to the leaf inside. Inside of the canister was a slip of paper with detailed information about where and when this tea was sourced (Bailin Village, Fujian China. Harvested April 4th-6th, 2013).
Bai Lin Congfu sample provided by Joseph Wesley Black Tea.