Tea: Yellow Kukicha(霍山棒棒茶) Type: Yellow Tea, Huangdacha Processing Harvest: July 2024 Region: Shangtutushi Town, Huoshan City, Anhui. Producer: Jiahong Factory Tasting Notes: Sunflower Seeds, Pine Nuts, Toasted Sesame.
This is, without exaggeration, the best thing to ever happen to stem tea. Processed as green tea, stems can sometimes give off rough astringency; as a red tea, they can come out weak, albeit sweet. Yet, as a yellow tea, stems offer up a uniquely rich, nutty, sweet, and roasty taste. The closest analog in the tea world is Japan's Hoji-kukicha, but the balance between sweetness and roastiness is unrivaled. There are no sour or sharp notes lurking below the surface.
The Jiahong "factory" is really just a father-son duo that has converted their two story village home and backyard into a mini reprocessing plant for the twigs. Hu Jiahong heard about the market for heavily roasted, yellowed twig tea in the early 2000's. He learned how to make it after some experimentation, and began visiting Shandong and Shanxi in 2008. His son now permanently lives in Shanxi's Hongtong County, and has been storing and shipping out tea after an industrial accident left him disabled.
In China, stem tea like this is consumed in a relatively limited geographic area, mainly Shandong and Southern Shanxi. It is an affordable, hardy tea that is perfectly suited for the conventional mug-brewing of these areas. This a dessert tea if there ever was one, and a treat that every tea lover should try at least once.
Aromatically pairs with any bullshit I have to deal with and a nice way to reward myself for doing do. Lots of great mileage drinking it Grandpa Style. Nutty (like me) and rich ?not like me).
Unfortunately not quite to my taste, I feel like it's just a bit light. However! If you brew Riptide really aggressively, like 9g/100 100°C 30+sec, then you'll get straight hibiscus tea.
Ugh, where do I even start ! Thick, juicy, stemmy, like a wonderful thick red wine or delicious pipe tobacco. Aged jujube, gozi berry, date, cedar, and just old forest energy from this massive brick that will last you a while. Brick is tightly pressed but, once you've found the right place with your tea knife, it's super easy to grab large chunks.
I was drinking this tea with a friend of mine and here's their verdict (paraphrased lol)
This tea has a clarifying quality to it. It's refreshing in a way that is very soothing to the senses: calming sleep, soothing aches, and relaxing eyes. The reserved sweetness feels natural and light, transporting you to the place where it is grown.
My personal opinion: This tea is awesome. Very refreshing, smooth to the taste, and lasts for many cups! Pairs nicely with just sitting around. You can relax with a tea like this.
