The Saskatchewan winter this year has been the coldest in decades even yesterday it was snowing. To help the body harmonize to this unnatural cold one has been consuming tons of balhyocha, Korean yellow tea (Hwang cha). Over then next few weeks I hope to review some of these interesting teas- some seasonal favorites while others are brand new experiences.
This is a balhyocha that one looks forward to every year (here is a review of last year's). This is the second bag of this stuff via my good friend Pedro of O5tea consumed through this bitterly cold winter. Seems to be just the right tea on some of these sunny, frigid days.
The dry leaves fill the room with thick, distinct, creamy, milky, deep-sweet chocolate odors.
The first infusion is full of this flavor- sweet, creamy, milky chocolate notes. There is a slight cool coco after taste deep in the throat. The flavor is long and lingers on the tongue and deep in the mouth. The mouthfeel is thin but fully coats the mouth, tongue, and deep throat.
The second is much more full in the mouth with its coating slightly sticky in the throat and tongue. There is much the same delicious creamy-chocolately full base taste but now with more wood-peanut notes underneath.
The third has initial tones of banana and slight pear fruit tastes which share space with chocolate. Wood and peanut support these tastes to add a layered nuance to this tea. A slight cool aftertaste is noted in the throat with peanut and wood notes stuck to the tongue. This tea imparts a nice deep relaxing feeling and is quite uplifting even on the coldest of cold days. The digestive system feels supported and warm, like a nice comforting hug.
The fourth has a mild, creamy, woody taste with much of the dense creamy chocolate tastes dropping off now. There is a nice balance of wood and coco now with more of a flat and stable taste profile. Even the cool throat feel has diminished a bit. The mouthfeel is full and thin slightly sticky still.
The fifth is much the same under a longer steeping time. There are more distinct chocolately notes now as the tea is push a little longer here to almost one minute infusions.
The sixth is cloaked in chocolate notes once again.
Peace
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