Crimson Lotus Tea goes Intergalactic.... with Black Tea

Hello hello!

About a month ago, Crimson Lotus Tea released their new line-up of black tea. Although they've sourced black tea for others before, this is the first time they've released a tea that wasn't sheng our shou, in eight years! For this line-up of Dian Hong Black Tea (which is a Yunnan-grown bud-heavy black tea), they released three different variations -- all ranging from being light to heavy with tea buds. After buying a cake of Intergalactic, the most bud-heavy of the three in their line-up, I opened my tea-mail to find samples of the other two in the line-up -- Roam and Big Red.

How did Crimson Lotus Tea do with sourcing a tea that's outside of their normal range? Is Intergalactic out of this world?

Let's find out!

Tea: Intergalactic

Dimensions: 3.3g of white tea in a 50ml gaiwan (1g per 15ml)

Infusions: 14

Price: $34.99 USD for a 200g tea cake

Water Temperature: 200ºf

Infusions 1 - 6

When smelling this tea, I first noticed heavy aromas of malt and honeydew. With the first infusion, the tea's slick texture slid its way past my tongue, leaving behind woodsy notes of sweet malt. With a few more infusions, the light notes of sweet notes of tree-bark and tree sap became sharp and sweet. By the seventh infusion, there was a hint of brandy lingering in the mouth, which was overshadowed by a fluffy malt echo that filled the air in my mouth.

Infusions 7 - 12

The notes of malt and rum were balancing well with the notes of tree bark, with a texture that was equal parts light and smooth. As the session continued, this tea's notes held a consistency in notes and texture for at least four infusions, before beginning to ease up. However, by the fourteenth infusion, this tea was looking pale in color and was ready to be concluded...

Tea: Big Red and Roam

Dimensions: 3.3g of white tea in a 50ml gaiwan (1g per 15ml)

Infusions: 14

Price:

Roam: $24.99 USD for a 200g tea cake

Big Red: $29.99 USD for a 200g tea cake

Water Temperature: 200ºf

Infusions 1 - 12

At first, Roam started out with soft notes of malt and light stone-fruit. With just a few infusions, this tea's body was noticeably balanced with sweetness, fruitiness, and woodiness. This tea's texture also jumped out at me because it was fluffy, yet defined. When trying Big Red, I first noticed a strong woodsy-like maltiness that immediately blanket the entire palate. While having less defined fruit-like sweetness to

Roam, this tea's texture was substantially more defined in regards to being smooth. However, just like Big Red, roam was very well defined and held a strong consistency throughout the session.

Conclusion:

To start, I wanted to commend Crimson Lotus Tea for going outside of their comfort zone with releasing their first line-up of Crimson Lotus Tea-brand black tea. One thing I really enjoyed about Intergalactic was how radiant and pleasant its aroma was. This was carried over to this tea's tasting notes, which at one point, was energizing and room-filling. Another aspect about this tea I liked was its ability to continually change and alter throughout the session. As far as Big Red and Roam goes, they were more consistent with their notes throughout the session.

However, one thing to keep in mind with Intergalactic is that this tea still felt very fresh. Due to being so bud-heavy, this tea could benefit from aging for a month or two for its notes to really shine. Due to personal experience with other Dian hong, Intergalactic will continue to grow and become even more incredible after a bit of time.

Overall, I believe that Crimson Lotus Tea did a phenomenal job with sourcing Dian Hong. Out of the three, they are all delightful on their own merit. Despite that Crimson Lotus Tea being known for carrying some of the best shou-puer in the industry, who know what else they can master if they continue to explore other avenues in tea? We can only daydream of amazing things...

~The Oolong Drunk

"Blissfully Tea Drunk"