Review: TeaGschwendner’s China Yunnan Golden Downy Pekoe Tea

© 2010 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved.
No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.
My humans continue their exploration of the teas they bought at the TeaGschwendner tea shop in Raleigh, NC. As always, I was their guide in this tea adventure.

The Subject: China Yunnan Golden Downy Pekoe from TeaGschwendner.


Rating:

Water temperature: 212˚ F

Steeping time: 2 minutes (see comments)

Tea type: Black
Scents, flavorings, etc.: N/A
Aroma, dry: Mild, fruity, planty
Aroma in the cup, plain: Smoky, earthy, spicy, slight tang, no bitterness
Taste, plain: Smoky, earthy, spicy, slight tang, no bitterness
Aroma in the cup, enhanced: Smoky
Taste, enhanced: Smooth. Milk seems to bring out a smoky quality

2nd Infusion: See comments

Chilled: Didn’t do

Comments:
This is the final tea we bought during our first visit to the TeaGschwendner store in Raleigh, NC. This tea is another reason that the drive was well worth it.

We stayed true to the tea principles of the Little Yellow Teapot and followed the vendor’s label directions when preparing the hot version of this tea:

3g tea (1 heaping teaspoon) per 8oz. cup of filtered, boiling water. Allow to brew 2 min.

However, the label describes the tea as malty, tobacco-y, and truffle-like. Here’s where we have to differ. Sometimes, the terms used to describe tea aromas and flavors are a bit over done. To us, the dry tea has a mild, fruity, planty aroma when dry.

We did 3 infusions, not wanting to waste this wonderful tea made from the leaves and buds plucked from the tips of the tea plant (Camellia Sinensis) branches. If you’re the kind of tea drinker who likes to drink your tea totally unenhanced, you could probably do a 4th and even possibly a 5th infusion. After the 2nd infusion, the liquid tends to get rather light in flavor, so you may need to lengthen the steep time (we steeped for 3 minutes on the 3rd infusion).

Since this is a black tea, we wanted to try it with a bit of milk and sweetener, our normal enhancements for black teas. To our surprise, the milk seemed to enhance the smoky quality of the tea. The 1st and 2nd infusions took the milk well, but the 3rd infusion was too light tasting. One thing we suggest is to combine the three infusions into one potful (2 cups each and pour into a 6-cup teapot). The flavor will still be good and strong enough to stand up to the milk (but only use a little bit) and a pinch of sweetener.

This tea is a beautiful example of hand-selected tea leaves. When dry, the leaves and buds are curled into compact shapes. After steeping, they are fully unfurled so that the shape is clearly visible, as you can see in this photo. Wonderful!

The liquid looks so beautiful, both plain and with milk and sweetener, in the glass teacup we purchased at the store.

Our congratulations to Ryan Hinson, Store Manager, and his staff on an excellent tea.

Disclaimer: We purchased this tea from the company named during our first visit to the store. However, the rating of the tea and any opinions concerning it are always strictly objective.