In the ongoing adventure travels of John and Caroline Wise, we are heading out on an Asian journey to Teaville with a chance of taking in Kiambu or Thika over in Kenya. Our exotic voyage from the United States of Plague where we travel without moving to bring the outside world to us will begin with a visit to Golden Yunnan. This black tea originating from China comes to us via The Whistling Kettle in Troy, New York. I presented Caroline with a box of 23 sample packs of teas I was interested in trying and, reaching in blindfolded, she pulled out Golden Yunnan.

On average our tea samples cost $3.65 with the added expense of needing a couple of boxes of their branded tea bags. These drawstring bags that hold enough tea to make 30 ounces at a time were only $8.99 for a box of 100 so our bargain adventure to Teaville will only cost about $1.92 a bottle. I say bottle because we’ll be making iced tea with our samples, which are split in half to make two bottles worth. Just so you know, the sample packs make between 4 and 6 cups of hot tea according to The Whistling Kettle, but it’s summer in the desert so we’ll stick with iced tea. Water cost is inconsequential as we use tap water, so that’s it. Oh, and because our order was greater than $50 shipping was free.

I won’t be attempting to share the subtleties of each tea we try as I’ve never enjoyed the way in which wine is reviewed with language that waxes about frothy hints of periwinkle mingling with sublime notes of Korean gochugaru and undercurrents of Oaxacan chapuline. Nor will you be seeing daily blog entries for my ratings. I might post a weekly update of how the previous 5-7 days of tea travels went, but I make no promises. While I started this blog entry in the morning when I was setting up our first bottle, it is mid-afternoon as I finally get around to taking a photo of the box the samples arrived in. So, as the tea has been steeping at least six hours, I’ll go ahead and try it and offer my fellow intrepid travelers a hint of where Golden Yunnan takes us.

Well, what can I say, it tastes like a very nice smooth black tea and there’s a subtle sweetness to it. I should add that it didn’t bring us even slightly close to Bitter Town or drop us off at the epicenter of Geldverschwendung in Germany. This is one of the two most expensive teas that The Whistling Kettle sells and rightfully so after you read their description:

Few teas produced in the world make the Royal grade and we are proud to offer this tea. Many factors are involved in giving this tea its wonderfully complex flavor. Consisting mainly of high-quality buds that are painstakingly handpicked, these tender, young leaves are covered with fine down. The leaves are then sun withered and placed into a temperature-controlled ‘fermentation room’ that is around 80 F with 85% humidity, to undergo a unique process called ‘pile fermentation’. Small amounts of water is sprayed onto the leaves, then covered with heavy hemp fabric, to help trap the heat inside. Pile height, pile temperature, and method of piling are under constant supervision. This sauna-like environment starts the fermentation process, which eventually causes the buds to turn gold, rather than black. The water content vs. dryness and temperature of the leaves are also constantly monitored, as the success of this process will determine its golden color. Every couple of hours, the leaves need to be turned over, with special care taken not to break the tips of the buds. Thus, no shovels or machinery are used…they do it all by hand…for forty days! This labor-intensive process, along with the quality of the buds, is what makes this artisanal tea truly unique.