My 2018 Spring Beyond the Clouds black tea came as a free sample with my last order at Essence of Tea. Beyond the Clouds is Ai Lao Mountain material.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The leaf is strangely a little green. Reading up on it, this black tea is lightly oxidized to give it more character.
I leafed pretty hard here, using 1 gram of leaf per 13ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped in boiling water. I like leafing black tea a little harder for maximum flavour. The hot rinsed leaf smells like candied red fruits
Tasting of Essence of Tea’s 2018 Spring Beyond the Clouds Black Tea
First, Second, and Third Infusion: Beyond the Clouds is an ultra fruity black tea! It is bright, crisp, and packed with flavour. There are lots of sweet notes of juicy berries that give off salivation. The tea glides sweetly on the tongue, with a dash of malt at the end of the sip. The more I sip the more of a thick custardy character texture shows up, adding heaviness to the brew.
Fourth and Fifth Infusion: Beyond the Clouds black tea got richer, leaving the fruity notes behind and going rich, chocolate, malty, and brisk dry. I like how rich and slick this tea is, yet also bright and sharp of flavour. The aftertaste is sweet berries too. Some sips have notes of clay. Others are creamy milky.
Black tea usually has plenty of caffeine but not the tea energy like this tea has. I feel as if someone switched me on to get a temple massage and now I’m off to a bouncy castle.
Sixth and Seventh Infusion: Beyond the Clouds black tea got brisk and dry. It is saucy fruity and I’ve still in the bouncy castle talking a mile a minute. It is very dry, hitting the back of my throat and my cheeks.
Eighth and Ninth Infusion: I can feel that my esophagus is dry. Beyond the Clouds black tea still has plenty of flavour with a fruity sweet and clay brisk to it, though it is hella dry and causing salivation. The last infusion was lighter but even drier, so I stopped there.
Comments
Essence of Tea’s 2018 Spring Beyond the Clouds black tea is a fruity elegant black tea with interesting splashes of rich flavours like malt, chocolate. I love how bright and sweet this black tea. It is sensitive to temperature, so gongfuing this one at 200F would be a better plan. The not full oxidization leaves this tea a bit sensitive to temperature, so I wouldn’t grandpa style this one.
I quite like this black tea, though I prefer my black teas to be near indestructible as I tend to grandpa style these more. Though this is a tasty Ai Lao black with an excellent fruitiness that many would enjoy.
(Tea came as a free sample with a tea order)
