My Overall Impression (Score of 86.5%)

I hope everyone is enjoying my reviews.  I’m attempting to bring more to you in the future as I’ve purchased more tea in the last few weeks than I’ve realized.  One of these wonderful additions is the Feng Qing Golden Pekoe #100 Dian Hong from Yunnan Sourcing (that was a mouthful).  Which makes sense because this brew is  an incredible mouthful that I enjoyed.  This is one of the teas that I travel with now and it’s extremely refreshing when I sip on it in my travel mug.  

I must be weird but when I open a pouch of these leaves, I get excited.  They show a lovely golden hue on their color which starts my anticipation for the finished product.  I love its aroma of golden malt and toffee which to me is inviting.  Then the first sip brings ginger cookies followed by corn flakes?  I love Canadian Corn Flakes (Yes, they are different) as they have incredible texture and long flavors.  This tea reminds me of breakfasts growing up during the winter months getting excited to walk to school.  That same excitement is back when I sip on this. 

Now as I’m older, this tea would be great with a good cheesecake (with a graham/gingersnap crust of course) and sitting around the table chatting.  The price per brew is great. This is one to have in your pantry.  I plan to brew this as an iced tea over the summer to see if the ginger and gold malt notes appear.

What do I think this Tea’s Personality is?

• This is an after-dinner tea with Ginger Cookies or cheesecake with the graham cracker crust sitting with family and friends about the good old days.

The Price

The price on 4/26/2024 is $10.50 for 50 grams.

Broken down:

• 50 gm / 3 gm for steeping = 16 brews
• 16 brews from package = app. 66 cents per brew

Typically, I double steep all my teas (use the tea twice) so I can get 36 cups or approximately 33 cents per cup.  This is inline with other teas of the same quality level and price.  This is a great find.

Aromas

• Opening the package revealed an incredible golden, sugared malt, with notes of toffee and brown sugar.
• It also showed notes mustiness, lightly toasted wood, green vegetable notes (hard to determine), stale dried parsley and thyme. I kept thinking of hints of mulch.
• Once brewed, the gold malt tones remained but now showed caramel / toffee / and oaky vanilla notes.
• It showed hints of celery leaves, cauliflower leaves and dried thyme.

Flavors

• From the first sip, all I could think of was ginger/molasses cookies.
• It then displayed a corn flake/grape nuts cross with hints of honey and toffee in the sweetness.
• Lastly, there were small hints of starfruits and apples.
• II found that it’s a bit one dimensional on the flavor while being off dry with a lovely acidity.
• It has an exceptionally clean structure making it easy to drink and enjoy.
• The tannins are moderately high but approachable with a nice rich mouthfeel.

Scores

• Aromas (4.4/5)
• Flavors (8.4/10)
• Overall impression (4.5/5)
  • Total score = 86.5 percent (17.3/20)

Foods to Pair and Why

• I’m a sucker for soft ginger/molasses cookies (like if I could only eat one cookie for the rest of my life, this beats chocolate chip). Having some small cookies (tea size) would pair wonderfully with this brew.
• It’s getting closer to summer which means the smokers are going full force. Well, they run full force all year round.  In any case, I love to smoke chickens at a higher temperature to cook them without imparting much smoke.  I can then use these chickens for numerous ideas.  Such as pairing this meat with gingered stir-fried vegetables for a summer meal.
• I love candy shredded pork loin to be served over fragrant jasmine rice.
• I’m a big believer that one of the best soups around is a great bowl of ramen. I would love to serve this tea alongside instead of traditional green options.
• I also love cheese. I’m thinking a triple cream brie just below room temperature so its nice and soft with crispy gingersnaps would be awesome.  The gingersnaps are from Trader Joe’s.