Joseph Wesley Black Tea

I pulled this one out today so that i could have it at home in a proper mug. That’s the way this tastes the best imo.

tea from earlier today. We’ve had a nice lazy-ish sort of day today as our first weekend where we were both in town and for the most part, he wasn’t working. I enjoy this one, but it’s not my favourite assam. it’s a little drying while also feeling very juicy. That being said, i still really love these offerings from JW and they always make for an enjoyable cup to reflect on.

I thought i’d try this one out today. Monday morning and i wanted something i was fairly certain i’d appreciate. Turns out, i was right. This is a bolder assam, not very malty – more on the sweet side. No bitterness, just a relatively smooth cup. Better review of this one when i can have it in a mug instead of my travel mug :)

So this is the second tea from my first ever order from Joseph Wesley Tea!!! I loveee assam teas, so I got a sample of it. Well, all the teas I got were samples except their Limited Edition TGY that is INCREDIBLE!! I don’t know why I never logged it, it totally slipped my mind! D: I’ll have to do that soon.
Anyway so this is the second one I’m trying!
And holy shanghai!! IT’S ANOTHER HIT! I ADORE this tea!
Since black teas seem to be hit or miss with me these days, it felt like a huge surprise that I loved it so much! The main flavor of course is malt, which is one of my fav flavors in black tea! Tasted a bit of maybe honey…it was kinda sweet, and also kinda a bit chocolate-y. I think I oversteeped it a tiny bit so it also had a bitter note in there.
But overall it’s a total win in my book! I definitely will buy this again. And I am pretty sure it’s gonna be a staple on my shelf.
Another win by Joseph Wesley Tea!!!! :D :D :D

WOW this is DELICIOUS!

I accidentally oversteeped it and it took it like a champ. Super smooth and creamy and malty and sweet but also a little savory. Addictive and so so tasty!! I can’t wait to try it again but more carefully and see what other flavors I can pull from it. YUMS

As soon as I heard that Joseph Wesley has this limited edition for sale I placed an order for 50g. This tea is exceptional quality and taste. Each leaf is perfect thin curl. I made it western 3g 8oz 200F for 3min. The color was amazing bright orange. The tea is complex. It is even hard to describe. Somewhat floral, nutty. It is not heavy and would be perfect as breakfast or afternoon tea in summer. So refined. Doesn’t need any additions. Just perfect. No bitterness or astringency detected.

Next time I’m going to Gongfu it. I’m pretty sure it will taste even better. I would be able to pick up more notes.

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When I saw this one come out, I had to pick it up. I love Qimen, and I already had a couple other JWT teas on my wishlist, so another excuse to make an order!

The leaf is really curly, thin, and a nice rich black color. I used about 4.5g and gongfu brewed it. My first impression was that it reminded me of another Qimen I liked from Nannuoshan Tea. Like that tea, it has a lot of complexity, and the notes are delicious! This one has the usual smokiness, with notes of chocolate and honey! These flavor notes were really distinctive, and I loved it! It was also super smooth. I kind of forgot about my fourth infusion, but I didn’t need to worry about it getting bitter at all. I’m so glad I now have 50g in my cupboard!

I’m sad my review for this has disappeared.
My palate lately seems to have died and a lot of teas have been tasting the same.
But here is my take on it anyhow. This is a really fruity tea. It reminds me of fruitcake in that dried fruit soaked in alcohol way. Quite wine-ey. There is some mild astringency, just enough to be pleasant. Overall, a very good Darjeeling. It sets the bar high!
Too bad I only have a bit left. Would be willing to send it to anyone wanting a taste

This was the tea I was most excited to try because the notes about caramel sounded so good. Unfortunately, all I got was malt. Not bad, but not great. I really like Classic Chinese and the Lapsang, and even the Dian Congfu better.

This was a tasty keemun. It had some smoke, some fruit, and some caramel. Pretty good. The smoke lasted throughout several infusions. I probably would have preferred it to change a bit more, but overall, it was good.

So, I totally didn’t realize this was a non-smoked lapsang until I brewed it up. That’s okay though…you know why? Because it tastes amazing! It has a subtle hint of smoke, more like a keemun than a smoked lapsang, but there were notes of malt, cocoa, caramel, fruit. Mmmm! Later infusions brought out the caramel even more. Absolutely delicious, and probably ranks up there with the Classic Chinese black tea. :)

Delicious!

Grabbed it with a bunch of my other blacks and put it near my bedside table near my tea/hot water maker as part of moving all meds and comfort items nearby because I am fighting a cold that could win at any moment… And last night was feeling like it may have. Happily this morning I’m back to fight-off symptom levels.

Grabbed this one to make out of just random, really… Looking over the packages gauging when I’d had this or that last, that sort of thing, and decided to go with this.

I’ve twice now at the Coffee & Tea NYC festival bought things from them and enjoyed, grabbed this with 2 last-year ones I liked.

So, on waking this morning I prepped and turned on my Breville with it and am having it.

First mouthful was an actual “yum!” thought in my head, the word. I’ll not go into all the colors and details this review as I know I’ll have it again and can then add more, but right now: molasses, orange color in back of tongue but not throat area, moderate brown richness on mid-tongue, and lots of little finer notes that will add. It’s a medium strength black.

Absolutely a buy again.

2.25g/6oz

Again, gorgeous leaves. A mix of dark and light brown, medium length, and twisted. I gong fu-brewed this, starting with about a 45-second infusion. The liquor is a gorgeous dark amber. The taste is complex, with notes of malt, potato, caramel. It has a silky texture, and there is also a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg. In the third infusion, some fruity notes made an appearance. This is good stuff!

Milk chocolate goodness! So glad this is officially in my cupboard now!

My first JW tea! I ordered a black and white chawan (which I love!) and since I’ve heard such good things about the tea, I also picked up a few samples! The leaf of this tea is beautiful…medium length, twisty, black. I could tell it was really good quality. I brewed this gong fu-style and drank it out of my new chawan. I let the first infusion go for about one minute. The liquor was such a pretty red! It tasted like chocolate mousse with a touch of cherry, and it was silky smooth. Absolutely delectable! Mmmm!!! I’m really impressed. If this is “classic,” what else is in store for me? ;)

This is such a delightful tea. It opens with notes of smooth, silky cream, caramel, honey and baked bread. There are whispers of cocoa along with an almond nuttiness that makes me think of marzipan. There’s a hint of dried apricot. It’s decadent and sweet like cake batter; it’s thick and full, like pudding. I wouldn’t call it a “heavy” tea. Body falls somewhere between medium and full. Gosh, it’s so creamy! I don’t think I’ve ever had a Bai Lin that was so creamy.

I prepare a second steep. As the timer is about to ring, I lean over my cup to smell it…I sigh, and let out an audible “oh my god”. It smells like lightly toasted cinnamon bread, with buttercream frosting, and honey. It smells like French toast without syrup. It smells like a whole slew of delicious, mouth-watering pastries. The taste? It’s like apricot jam on buttered toast with a light dusting of cinnamon, paired with a tall glass of milk. It’s good. I’m still catching notes of honey, cream, and a tiny bit of malt. It’s soft, gentle, and buttery but it has so much flavor. I’m in awe. There are some brighter tones in this steep that are like white raisins or citrus, but they’re not intense enough for me to pin down. The citrusy notes are again in the third steep, along with honey and milk foam. Overall the last steep is much lighter than the first two. The leaves are nearly spent.

This was only a small sample in my last order, but it definitely goes on my reorder list. I’ll miss this too much when it’s gone.

Method:
2tsp/10oz
Preboiling
First steep: 1min 30sec
Second steep: 2min
Third steep: 3min

SOOO GOOD if you love creamy black teas! This black is super smooth with lots of creamy, raisin, chocolate, malt, caramel and toast. It’s like liquid bread pudding!

This tea does a great second infusion and can take long infusions for travel mugs or forgetful steepers.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/06-bai-lin-congfu-black-from-joseph-wesley-black-tea-tea-review/ (and cheese stealing owl)

Sweet baby Jesus…this might be the best Da Hong Pao I have ever had.

This lovely tea came as a gift from the wonderful boychik.

Looking at the beautifully crafted leaves, I had a feeling I was in for a treat.

Very short steeps are required for rock oolong, a few seconds is sufficient.

My first steep was whoa!! A burst a flavor!!

In a nutshell: juicy, toasty, nutty, sharp, mineral, sweet, with big notes of stone fruits and cocoa…yes, this tea has it all!!

It’s complex, it keeps changing, adding different layers and subtleties to each steep.

It’s simply stunning, in every possible ways.

It was such a privilege to get the chance to try it, and thanks to boychik’s generosity, I have plenty left for a few more sessions. Thank you :-)

On a side note, I want to mention that after sampling a few of their teas, I was impressed enough to place my first order with Joseph Wesley. Well I was even more impressed with the service that I received! I want to thank you Joseph for your impeccable customer service, you made all the difference… I already know I will be a returning customer.

Pics:

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Sorry, my brain is pretty much dead today. It’s been a long week. Now I have a sinus headache. I would like a nap, and instead I’m stuck at work.

But this tea is nice. Really nice.

I haven’t been drinking my white teas much lately. I don’t know why. This is a really great tea, so I’m glad I grabbed it this morning and brought it with me to work. I got this a little while back and just finally opened it. (It is still available on the website, so I recommend you get some.)

My little notes I jotted down:

fuzzies!
sweet
kinda hay
the bit of aroma I’m getting is beautiful (I’m got a bit of a stuffy nose to go with sinus headache)
love the color of the leaves while steeping

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Mineral, sweet, deep, dark. Yum.

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And continuing on with my sample sip downs at work today, this was the one I was drinking later in the afternoon and was by far the best of the bunch.

The dry leaves in this are just beautiful, all nice golden and fuzzy. As for the taste all I have to say is WOW sweet potato!!!! Oooozes sweet potato. I’m getting some chocolate, cocoa in the aroma, but I can’t really actually taste them. I’m sure if I’d been at home I could have coaxed the chocolate notes out, but don’t really have that luxury at work. There is no doubt that this is a quality tea.
Thank you scribbles for sharing this wonderful tea. :))

I’ve tried many different Wuyi oolongs, Da Hong Pao for the most part, but never had Qi Lan.

Thanks to my generous friend boychik, I got to experience it for the first time today.

I was expecting a very similar taste profile…and yes thats what I got to some degree.

Nice mineral mouthfeel, roasty and nutty…I’m a fan!

But…the big difference lies in the extreme sweetness I get from this tea, feels like a sweet nectar!!

A lot sweeter than any rock oolong I have ever had.

People…it’s yummy.

But this type of tea must be prepared gongfu in order to fully appreciate all its characteristics and nuances. (Only in my humble opinion of course)
It’s easier to control this way…rock oolongs tend to turn bitter very easily. But when done properly, they are amazing and so rewarding!

This tea is nothing short of greatness.

I am impressed so far by Joseph Wesley…Integrity always wins at getting my business ;-)

Thank you boychik for introducing me to them, I see an order in my near future!

As usual, pics of the session:

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