Today’s review is Floating Leaves Tea’s Crimson Lishan. This is a High Mountain Lishan that was processed as a black tea. I can get enough Taiwanese black teas, so I was excited to get my hands on a black Lishan. I sampled Crimson Lishan in the shop, then bought 4oz worth.
Leaf and Steeping Method
Crimson Lishan has a cinnamon, grape, and plum scent.
I used 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, gongfu steeping in boiling water. The hot leaf still has a plummy cinnamon scent.
Tasting of Floating Leaves Tea’s Crimson Lishan
First and Second Infusion: Crimson Lishan is soft and sweet tasting, with a creamy silky texture. The flavour notes blur between purple plums and grapes as it has that fruit skin tartness. The background has a stewed cinnamon note and the aftertaste is a creamy plum. The flavour level is on the soft side in the typical Taiwanese black tea fashion.
Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Infusion: There is a soft buttery caramel trying to take over the fruity notes, but the fruity notes remain strong at the end of the sip. I accidentally oversteeped the sixth infusion and didn’t notice any ill effects, so I am thinking this is a bombproof tea.
Ninth Infusion: I did a 20 minute infusion to get the rest of the flavour out and Crimson Lishan was pretty much the same as the last bracket of infusions with a stewed cinnamon note, bits of caramel and plenty of plum flavour.
Thermos/ Grandpa Style: Crimson Lishan does not oversteep nor gets bitter or dry. The flavour is a dark cinnamon plum with rich caramel and it can take a half day of refills. This style gets more potent in flavour compared to the gongfu style. That said, I made Crimson Lishan my special treat thermos or grandpa style tea.
Comments
Floating Leaves Tea’s Crimson Lishan, aka a Lishan Black tea, is uncommon of a find. Crimson Lishan is a plummy cinnamon caramel black tea that is a flexible steeper and reinfuses well. It isn’t dry, bitter, or tannic, so it is a good light black tea for the oolong lover. I highly recommend throwing Crimson Lishan in a thermos and just letting it do its thing. It is indestructibly good.
