Yuchi Assamica Black Tea
The Yuchi Assamica is a black tea that is made from an Assamica (large leaf) cultivar. The tea is grown in the area surrounding the Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan. One can see this lake as the centre of black tea production in Taiwan. Taiwan is famous for its delicious oolong teas, not really for its black teas. This does not mean that they can’t produce top-quality black teas. One of these teas is the Yuchi Assamica, which is described on Curious Tea’s blog as “sweet, yet savoury. It has a soup-like thickness of flavour, reminiscent of the taste of a vine tomato soup. There are lightly mineral, malty and herbaceous notes. The overall flavours are clean, yet complex, signifying a tea of great quality.” (source)
Sun Moon Lake is in Nantou County in the centre of Taiwan.
The dry leaves are large and twisted. They also have a really dark colour.
After the tea session, the leaves have unfurled and are a bit lighter in colour.
Tea tasting
Brewing details
- Water 90°C
- 5g of leaves for a 150ml glass teapot
- 1 rinse
- 6 steeps (15 seconds + 5 seconds each steep)
Before rinse
The dry leaves have a malty aroma with some light herbaceous notes. This is a very ‘warm’ smell.
After rinse
The wet leaves have a very strong herbaceous aroma.
Steeping
1st steep: intense mineral flavours from the start and it becomes malty in the middle. Good steep to start with.
2nd steep: immediately from the start, I notice the complexities of flavour. Again, mineral flavours in combination with a slight malty undertone. With this tea, it’s not just black or white but there is a complexity to its different flavours.
3rd steep: mineral flavours with very light herbaceous notes. I don’t really like mineral flavour profiles that much but this tea is pleasant to drink. Not too intense and not too soft; it’s just perfect.
4th steep: mainly mineral notes that are perfect. They fade out slowly.
5th steep: mineral flavour but without the complexities of the earlier steeps. It is, however, still very tasty to drink.
6th steep: mineral flavours but not as intense. I feel like the tea leaves are fading. Still an amazing steep to drink.
1st steep
2nd steep
3rd steep
4th steep
5th steep
6th steep
Conclusion
I’m not a big fan of black teas but I really enjoyed this one. The mineral flavour profile was not too intense or too soft; it was just right for me. You can notice that this is a high quality tea by tasting the complexities this tea has to offer. It’s not my favorite tea ever but I’m happy I tried it today. This tea proves that Taiwan can also produce some high-quality black tea next to its amazing variety of oolong teas.
Interested in buying this tea? Go to Curious Tea’s online store.
