What Black Are You Drinking

[Bok]

Definitely a personal preference thing: I've loved the few Taiwanese blacks I've had. Floral, fruity, and easy to keep the slight bitterness at bay.

I second that it is a matter of personal preference. I feel those who enjoy second flush muscatel darjeeling may enjoy taiwan blacks

Yes agree. I had an all time memorable black that really left a strong impression on me, a Hualien Mixiang Red sourced by Origin Tea. Wow, it was super rich, spicy, aromatic perfumed (but not cheap perfume), and sweet. Hualian County on the east coast is most famous for producing this red tea. Also, the tinny leaves kept steeping for a very very long time. This left such an impression that I posted Longevity of Tea Leaves: Sustaining Multiple Steeps as a result.

And I almost forgot to mention Ethan Kurland’s stellar Championship Black which is so good and also has a thick aroma and flavor profile of sweet honey, muscat, spices and fruit

Second (or third that)

In Taiwan I'd classify black teas in two general classes(of course very general, there are a lot more types): Assam kind as the various Ruby and such, and Mixiang group(Honey-something), usually made with Oolong cultivar leaves. I prefer the latter by a long stretch. There is good(in this case I mean balanced) Ruby, but it is rare to find. Most are heavy on one or another aspect of the tea, which quickly makes it indegestible (to me).

The whole batch of wild and hybrid black teas that can also be found are a different story. That Hongcha has less body is to me a general characteristic, isn't it? Can't think of one I'd describe as having a lot of body(TW, Chinese, Japanese or Korean).

[maple]

I second that it is a matter of personal preference. I feel those who enjoy second flush muscatel darjeeling may enjoy taiwan blacks

Yes agree. I had an all time memorable black that really left a strong impression on me, a Hualien Mixiang Red sourced by Origin Tea. Wow, it was super rich, spicy, aromatic perfumed (but not cheap perfume), and sweet. Hualian County on the east coast is most famous for producing this red tea. Also, the tinny leaves kept steeping for a very very long time. This left such an impression that I posted Longevity of Tea Leaves: Sustaining Multiple Steeps as a result.

And I almost forgot to mention Ethan Kurland’s stellar Championship Black which is so good and also has a thick aroma and flavor profile of sweet honey, muscat, spices and fruit

Second (or third that)

In Taiwan I'd classify black teas in two general classes(of course very general, there are a lot more types): Assam kind as the various Ruby and such, and Mixiang group(Honey-something), usually made with Oolong cultivar leaves. I prefer the latter by a long stretch. There is good(in this case I mean balanced) Ruby, but it is rare to find. Most are heavy on one or another aspect of the tea, which quickly makes it indegestible (to me).

The whole batch of wild and hybrid black teas that can also be found are a different story. That Hongcha has less body is to me a general characteristic, isn't it? Can't think of one I'd describe as having a lot of body(TW, Chinese, Japanese or Korean).

Another different in Taiwan black tea is rolling machine.

For black tea - https://www.chanchuan.com/product-detail-248157.html / 平揉
For oolong/ baozhong - https://www.chanchuan.com/product-detail-248103.html / 望月

望月 (WangYue) was invest/product by Japanese "望月發太郎" and import to Taiwain in Japan occupation time frame (early 20th century)

Most of small farmer with small factory. They won't invest money on black tea rolling machine. They will continue use 望月 style.
It cause some different.

For the mid-Taiwan, ex. 魚池. Most of them are using black tea rolling machine. It's important for competition.

[LeoFox]

Thank you, very nice information!
@maple

[klepto]

Hojo's Lapsang Souchong Qi Zhong from Tong Mu Guan:

There was no smoke, no chocolate notes just beautiful citric fruits like orange peel and lemon.
The early steeps had a nice citric bite to it but later steeps the fruit tasted deeper but softer.
That was the best lapsang souchong I've ever had and I've tried far too many to count.
It came in a 50g tin, I'll be wanting more of that for posterity!

[faj]

Hojo's Lapsang Souchong Qi Zhong from Tong Mu Guan:

There was no smoke, no chocolate notes just beautiful citric fruits like orange peel and lemon.
The early steeps had a nice citric bite to it but later steeps the fruit tasted deeper but softer.
That was the best lapsang souchong I've ever had and I've tried far too many to count.

I received a sample of that tea my last order. I really liked it, and plan on ordering some next time I order from Hojo. I do not drink a lot of hong cha, and had never tried lapsang souchong before, so take this for what it is worth, but it is probably the best hong cha I have ever had. The name "lapsang souchong" for me was associated with "smoke" (things I read, not things I drank). Hojo describes this tea as not smoky, and it is accurate. Maybe that makes it "bad lapsang souchong" somehow, I don't know, but I though it was a very fine tea.

[klepto]

Hojo's Lapsang Souchong Qi Zhong from Tong Mu Guan:

There was no smoke, no chocolate notes just beautiful citric fruits like orange peel and lemon.
The early steeps had a nice citric bite to it but later steeps the fruit tasted deeper but softer.
That was the best lapsang souchong I've ever had and I've tried far too many to count.

I received a sample of that tea my last order. I really liked it, and plan on ordering some next time I order from Hojo. I do not drink a lot of hong cha, and had never tried lapsang souchong before, so take this for what it is worth, but it is probably the best hong cha I have ever had. The name "lapsang souchong" for me was associated with "smoke" (things I read, not things I drank). Hojo describes this tea as not smoky, and it is accurate. Maybe that makes it "bad lapsang souchong" somehow, I don't know, but I though it was a very fine tea.

I've been through the lapsang mill, some were so smokey you couldn't taste anything.. wild lapsang with no smoke but tasted like a mix of chocolate and the bark of a tree.. I also had some High mountain purple black tea from Hojo that was great too.. tasted like tangerine/nectarines and sweet potato. Hojo will devastate my tea budgets since I've gotten a taste of their wares and tea

[faj]

I also had some High mountain purple black tea from Hojo that was great too..

I had that one too. Definitely not on the same level as the other one to my taste. I wrote it had a nice price/quality ratio, and was what I though was a good starting point for someone used to black tea in teabags.

Hojo will devastate my tea budgets since I've gotten a taste of their wares and tea

That only happens if you let him . The best teas I had from him (I barely scratched his offering in both breadth and depth, and did not dabble in the really expensive stuff at all) were not those with the most wordy descriptions, but they were the most expensive. You could almost think the better stuff does not need those nice stories to sell. Oh, wait...

[GaoShan]

Hojo's Lapsang Souchong Qi Zhong from Tong Mu Guan:

There was no smoke, no chocolate notes just beautiful citric fruits like orange peel and lemon.
The early steeps had a nice citric bite to it but later steeps the fruit tasted deeper but softer.
That was the best lapsang souchong I've ever had and I've tried far too many to count.
It came in a 50g tin, I'll be wanting more of that for posterity!

I've also recently gotten into unsmoked lapsang souchong and while I haven't had the one from Hojo, I liked the one from TheTea.pl. It was full of citrus and tropical fruit and had almost no astringency. It's probably a lot more affordable than Hojo's as well.

I'll have to order from Hojo someday.

[klepto]

Hojo's Lapsang Souchong Qi Zhong from Tong Mu Guan:

There was no smoke, no chocolate notes just beautiful citric fruits like orange peel and lemon.
The early steeps had a nice citric bite to it but later steeps the fruit tasted deeper but softer.
That was the best lapsang souchong I've ever had and I've tried far too many to count.
It came in a 50g tin, I'll be wanting more of that for posterity!

I've also recently gotten into unsmoked lapsang souchong and while I haven't had the one from Hojo, I liked the one from TheTea.pl. It was full of citrus and tropical fruit and had almost no astringency. It's probably a lot more affordable than Hojo's as well.

I'll have to order from Hojo someday.

I've had some nice Hong cha from Thetea.pl. The owner pointed me towards some good ones.

[GaoShan]

Hojo's Lapsang Souchong Qi Zhong from Tong Mu Guan:

There was no smoke, no chocolate notes just beautiful citric fruits like orange peel and lemon.
The early steeps had a nice citric bite to it but later steeps the fruit tasted deeper but softer.
That was the best lapsang souchong I've ever had and I've tried far too many to count.
It came in a 50g tin, I'll be wanting more of that for posterity!

I've also recently gotten into unsmoked lapsang souchong and while I haven't had the one from Hojo, I liked the one from TheTea.pl. It was full of citrus and tropical fruit and had almost no astringency. It's probably a lot more affordable than Hojo's as well.

I'll have to order from Hojo someday.

I've had some nice Hong cha from Thetea.pl. The owner pointed me towards some good ones.

That lapsang souchong is the only black tea I've tried from this vendor, though he had a nice competition grade Yuchi Assam that I wish had been available when I made my last order. Which other black teas of his did you like?

[klepto]

Sadly sold out but 2020 Yuchi Wild Black Tea was great and tasted like rum cake and cherries to me.
I loved it, luckily I still have some left.

2020 Tanyang Gong Fu Hong Cha
It seems a bit too oxidized to me but very good. It tastes like biting into a dark chocolate bar.

Also side bar, plz try their hong shui oolong it is very good!

My 400th post.. I want to thank @Bok, Octo and all the wonderful people here who threw me into the adult pool and for a while I drowned in info until eventually it all started making sense...

[Bok]

My 400th post.. I want to thank Bok, Octo and all the wonderful people here who threw me into the adult pool and for a while I drowned in info until eventually it all started making sense...

Haha, you’re being too kind… glad that our sometimes confusing and grumpy ramblings are of some use for someone

[klepto]

My 400th post.. I want to thank Bok, Octo and all the wonderful people here who threw me into the adult pool and for a while I drowned in info until eventually it all started making sense...

Haha, you’re being too kind… glad that our sometimes confusing and grumpy ramblings are of some use for someone

I have already begun to continue the fine tradition.. at this point I like finding information that turns the current accepted tea principals on its head and then making my own decisions. Waiting for someone to say, "That's gong fu canon bro.. you can't do that.. its wrong."

[GaoShan]

Sadly sold out but 2020 Yuchi Wild Black Tea was great and tasted like rum cake and cherries to me.
I loved it, luckily I still have some left.

2020 Tanyang Gong Fu Hong Cha
It seems a bit too oxidized to me but very good. It tastes like biting into a dark chocolate bar.

Also side bar, plz try their hong shui oolong it is very good!

My 400th post.. I want to thank Bok, Octo and all the wonderful people here who threw me into the adult pool and for a while I drowned in info until eventually it all started making sense...

I'm glad that the Yuchi Assam was as good as I thought it might be. I see another order in my future once their lapsang souchong is back in stock! There's a Shan Lin Xi Gui Fei that I also want to try.

I bought one of their aged hong shui oolongs and one of their later ones, out of maybe four or five that they carry. I've yet to try them. Which one(s) did you like?

[klepto]

Sadly sold out but 2020 Yuchi Wild Black Tea was great and tasted like rum cake and cherries to me.
I loved it, luckily I still have some left.

2020 Tanyang Gong Fu Hong Cha
It seems a bit too oxidized to me but very good. It tastes like biting into a dark chocolate bar.

Also side bar, plz try their hong shui oolong it is very good!

My 400th post.. I want to thank Bok, Octo and all the wonderful people here who threw me into the adult pool and for a while I drowned in info until eventually it all started making sense...

I'm glad that the Yuchi Assam was as good as I thought it might be. I see another order in my future once their lapsang souchong is back in stock! There's a Shan Lin Xi Gui Fei that I also want to try.

I bought one of their aged hong shui oolongs and one of their later ones, out of maybe four or five that they carry. I've yet to try them. Which one(s) did you like?

2020 “Stone Fruit” Dong Ding Hong Shui Oolong
2020 Ming Jian Organic Roasted Hong Shui

I've reviewed both of these on his site.