Today’s review is from a new tea seller Steep Lab, who is based in Texas. Yellow Thunder is a yellow tea from Sichuan, China, promised to be a robust tea.
I honestly don’t think I’ve purchased a yellow tea or brewed it myself until today. I’ve had yellow tea a number of times at tea shops, festivals, or what friends have brought over to tea parties. Regardless, yellow tea it is a type of tea you don’t see all that often sold by tea shops.
First off, Steep Lab has the coolest packaging. I love the wooden box you get with their teas.
No, I didn’t get any splinters.
Dry Leaf and Steeping Method
Yellow Thunder smells fruited and roasted. The leaf has uniform buds that range in colour from green to brown. I could be mistaken that this tea is a green that has been left out too long, which is essentially part of the yellow tea processing that is different from green tea.
To steep my Yellow Thunder, I used 175F/80c water, using 1 gram of leaf per 20ml of vessel size. I opted for my glass gaiwan, which is a great tool for low-temperature teas. I did 30 sec infusion to start.
Tasting of Steep Lab’s Yellow Thunder Yellow Tea
First, Second, and Third Infusion: Yellow Thunder is smooth in texture with a creamy sip and robust falvor. The notes are interesting as it is slightly roasty, nutty, floral, and strangely avocado. It tastes stronger than a green tea, with close to no grassy notes. After a few sips, I figured out the flavor as it tastes like how aloeswood incense smells. The aftertaste has a slight grassy bite to it.
Fourth and Fifth Infusion: Which each infusion, the yellow tea is getting more mellow in taste with mostly notes of avocado. The early sip is sweet and nutty. Yellow Thunder has developed a bit of a floral bitterness as an aftertaste.
Sixth Infusion: The final infusion was good, tasting milky, roasted corn, and soft. It is less bitter than the last infusion, despite steeping it for 5 minutes. This excellent last infusion of Yellow Thunder is certainly worth steeping this tea out.
Grandpa Style: I used 4 grams in my large The Wall mug, with 175F/80C water. Yellow Thunder tastes more roasted and nutty with the longer infusion. The aftertaste is fresh but not grassy. There is a little dryness but no bitterness. This tea is awesome grandpa style, it got creamy and avocado flesh tasting the longer it steeped. I worked on this tea for 30 minutes, then it got too astringent to keep going.
Comments
Steep Lab’s Yellow Thunder is a smooth tea. Somewhat similar to green in appearance, but not grassy. I like the subtle roasted flavor, and with the avocado and nutty notes, Yellow Thunder tastes like the avocado toast of teas. This tea is excellent both gongfu and grandpa steeped. What stood out to me is Yellow Thunder is more robust than floral, compared to other yellow teas I’ve had.
Yellow Teas are often recommended for people who like green teas but dislike grassy notes. I would also extend that people who like lightly roasted teas would also enjoy Yellow Thunder. I’m no green tea drinker but found Yellow Thunder pleasing to my tastes of robust, roast, complex, and good re-steep ability.
Be sure to check out Steep Lab’s other teas. They carry mostly unflavored green and black teas.
(tea provided for review | affiliate links)
