Joseph Wesley Black Tea

This was the afternoon tea for me today, and to be honest I do not know what to make of it. The best words I can use to describe it today are soft. It was like it left me hanging a bit. The flavor was there. The upper range of light and fruity, but I guess I was expecting more base to really give it more of a hearty edge. I haven’t had many, if any, Dian Hong, so i think it was purely poor expectations for me. I will keep experimenting with my sample. For me I got a light sweet bread flavor out of this tea that was really smooth.

This is not what I was expecting, but that is not a bad thing. This is very very smooth. I get almost a smokey flavor, a woody note and almost cherry like flavor to this. This is way more savory than I was expecting. It is one of those snuggle in a blanket on a cold day kinda teas. I am picking up no astringency. I could definitely sip this all afternoon.

Sooo goood! Qimen is gorgeous – delicate leaf with a honey, fruity, and dark chocolate flavor with a hint of smoke and floral. I did mine gongfu style for 8 infusions and even with a really long final infusion it didn’t get overly dry. Nice complex black that is easy to drink.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/limited-edition-qimen-from-joseph-wesley-black-tea-tea-review/

When I’m not drinking Pu-erh, I’ve been instinctively reaching for a few select black teas, one of which is this Qimen. It’s like pouring black-cherry and tobacco infused honey that has been stored in oaken casks down your throat. So smooth, immune to over steeping and light enough to drink any time of the day. 50 grams gone; I’ll have to double down.

The small, expertly-crafted leaf portends an excellent tea, and this Keemun does not disappoint. The dry leaf has a voluptuous chocolate smell which mixes with roasted chestnut when the leaf is infused. I like to drink this in a glass mug to see the rich, reddish liquor, redolent of cinnamon.

Chocolate, cinnamon and clean tobacco flavors are in perfect equilibrium and the tea sparkles on the mid-palate. As it cools, a cotton-candy sweetness emerges. The taste persists in the mouth and throat for a while after the session.

From dry leaf to aftertaste, this tea is a wonderful experience.

So fortunate to be able to try this. Leaf is gorgeous. Compared to the #5, I would say this is more delicate/less bold but just as flavourful and delicious. This one seems lighter on the spicy fruitiness but is even sweeter and more floral. The aroma really is incredibly beautiful! Another tea I could easily drink everyday. :)

I haven’t been reviewing much but I was excited to get to try a few of joseph Wesley teas, thanks to a generous tea friend. This was the first I chose, and wow, now I know what I have been missing all this time – this tea is fantastic!
It brewed a rich and fragrant cup that tasted of spiced fruits and caramel with some smokiness and very light floral – so sweet, so tasty! Resteeped for a few cups which were all delicious.
This is a tea I would easily drink everyday!

Are we at the point where there are too many high-end, farm to cup tea purveyors? It’s very easy to be seduced by the burgeoning websites touting personal relationships with family farms in China or Estates in India. How much variety is too much? How often is the Chinese black tea from X an upgrade from the one you’ve been enjoying for a while? Maybe the answer is a resounding, “Variety is the spice of life!” But it’s a question I ask myself as I find fewer and fewer of my forays into the offerings of new (to me) sellers end up replacing the teas I’ve come to love and drink regularly.

Now, this is not meant as a criticism of Joseph Wesley’s teas which I’m trying for the first time. I really enjoyed his high end Qimen (not reviewed yet) and this Bai Lin is certainly pleasant. But is the Qimen better than the ones I’ve had from Upton, a place I’ve been ordering from for years and from whom I can order a whole variety of excellent teas? Hard to say. When I go to the store, I can choose between 20 different kinds of olive oil or yogurt but the myriad of choices just makes me anxious (or maybe it’s just the fluorescent lighting).

Anyway, back to this tea, which I’m finding hard to categorize. It’s not as chocolatey as its nose suggests it will be; it’s actually more vegetal and grainy. I think I went too heavy on the leaf the first time—when I used less, I had a better result.

mmm sad to see this one going, but glad that i had the chance to pick up these teas from JW for myself. They’ve been a great addition to my cupboard and will likely be back in the future. Once I get through a few more of my teas.

Pulled this one out this morning – a lovely tea to start the morning off

Another adventure in taste with my mouth today! i like this one a little more than the assam :) I don’t really have much else to say, feeling a little under the weather today and having this tea here with me has helped.

Pulled this one out to enjoy this morning and it was a great decision! smoke…some fruity notes and a little bit of malt. this is a medium sort of black…not too strong and not too wimpy. I’d like to try this one alongside the qimen from JW just to see which i prefer. Maybe when i get back next weekend!

started the day out earlier this morning with this one. As i added two teas to my cupboard yesterday, i’m trying to find a way to get those spaces back pronto! ihad just enough of this one left to enjoy it this morning and save a cup’s worth for terri :) yay for tea sharing. I quite enjoyed having this one in my cupboard but i’m glad i still have the other JW teas to drink now that this one is all gone. :(

delightful cup of tea form this morning. I am quite enjoying this one, though i didn’t have the time to brew it gonfu, it’s still great and gave me a couple resteeps. :)

I’ve had this one a couple times now without writing a review.

chocolate. honey. smooth. slight floral note. middle of the road in terms of strength.

I’m glad i have this one to try. It’s well worth it, though i’d like to try it out non western style i think.

I’ve come to a realization today.
I’m really not that huge on teas with chocolate notes. I mean, I like the Golden Monkey teas that have chocolate notes in it, and GO is pretty good-not my favorite and still don’t know for sure if I’m gonna buy more again. Like I went into GO thinking it was gonna be super vanilla-y. So I was pretty disappointed when it was just chocolate tea basically, but it was more of a deep, richer chocolate…if that makes sense? So I liked it, and I still have a little left, I really should drink the rest soon to see if I still like it. Feel like I used to be bigger on things tasting like chocolate-but only like a deep richer chocolate like GO. I rarely even eat chocolate. If I do it’s because there’s caramel with it or it’s combined with matcha or something.
This tea kinda surprised me. It was a strong flavor but it really reminded me of milk chocolate which I reallyyyy do not like to eat. Even if it’s a chocolate bar filled with caramel it’s just not that good when it is milk chocolate.. White chocolate I like though. Dark chocolate, I have to be in the mood for and that’s becoming more and more rare.
Milk chocolate…just no.
So yeah, I mean, if you LOVE teas that have chocolate flavors this is one for you! It really is chocolatey. It also has hints of like wood….kinda musty actually-even though that sounds horrible, like the chocolate is the main flavor so it’s not bad.
Not my favorite tea, but I have been wanting to try it for so long, so I’m excited I finally did! (:

mmmmm when brewed properly this is a delicious cup. I continue to be a fan of JW teas.