Drank a tea from Liquid Proust labeled only as “Shan Lin Xi Black” a few days ago. One of the better hongchas I’ve had, though that’s not usually a category of tea which I go for. The dry leaf had a fruity, chocolatey aroma – once they were wet, it was mostly fruity, specifically raisiny.
The flavor in the first couple steeps was jammy – sweet, thick, and fruity – with a bit of a malty finish. That didn’t last for too long, but the tea progressed to another pleasant profile with some floral sweetness. The malty finish became stronger and longer as the session went on as well. Near the middle of the session (around steep 5), I noticed a bit of a cinnamony spice note as well. The tea started to fade shortly after, but it still yielded a good 4-5 more steeps of some nice malty sweetness.
A very pleasurable black tea. One of the few I might consider buying more of if the price was right.
I think that one may have been the Shan Lin Xi Black from Tealyra. I recall him being impressed by that one.
So far, I’ve actually found myself preferring the Shan Lin Xi blacks over the Taiwan Ruby’s and Sun Moon Lake Assams.