Black Tea from Taiwan - Golden Dragon Red Jade Black Tea

Leaves after the 2nd steep...love to look at these after they've all opened!

Gosh, as much as I tell people about the good oolong teas from Taiwan, Taiwan black teas are really good too!  Here are my tasting notes for the Golden Dragon Red Jade Black Tea from Taiwan Tea Crafts.  Again, this tea was part of my gift set that I got for Christmas.

I have several black teas from Taiwan, but I don't have this varietal.  It's made from the T-18 cultivar or some know it as Ruby 18 which was developed by the Taiwan Research and Extension Station (TRES) by combining an Assamica leaf variatal with a native Taiwan wild leaf varietal.  I had read how popular it was so I was eager to try too, but the price was so high or supply just went quickly. So I'm so happy to have it and have tried it now!

我有幾種台灣紅茶, 但是沒有這一種.  這個 Golden Dragon Red Jade Black Tea 栽培品種叫紅玉十八號 (T-18).  是台灣自製的.  前幾年, 我聽說很好喝, 所以我也要試試看, 可是 那年價錢很貴也貨量快就賣完了. 現在我很高興可以品嘗這個茶!

Anyway, enjoyed it very much!  我很希歡!

1st steep

Vessel...175 ml/6 oz gaiwan
Wt...approx. 3g tea leaves
Temperature...95°C

Infusion time...1 min

Aroma...
Very nice and strong!  Notes of cinnamon and I was thinking camphor but I wasn't too sure.

Taste...
I tasted dried fruit, more specifically I think dried longan taste with notes of cinnamon and what I think was camphor or mint like.  Luckily the description of the tea made me feel a little more confident (there was camphor in the taste profile).  I know tea taste profiles can be subjective and it should be more about what you yourself experience, but sometimes it's nice when you and someone else can taste the same thing.

This tea was not astringent at all, very smooth so this tea definitely does not need milk or sugar.

Steeped two times and the tastes were very similar except the first infusion carried more aroma.  My third steep was actually several hours later.  I left the house and came back and decide to refresh the tea with some near boiling water and then brew my third cup (2 min infusion time).  Surprisingly, the flavour was still fairly strong but the camphor was missing and there was maybe a hint of bitterness.  Not sure if it's because I over steeped it or if it's a result of the time between steeps.

It was picked in 2014 but still is quite fresh.  I've found vacuum packed teas can last quite a number of years.  This tea is also grown in their own tea garden where they had to tear down an old one and start anew.  I always thought tea gardens lasted and lasted but I guess they don't...they need to be revitalized in some way or in their case replanted from scratch.  As the tea tree matures, I'm sure it will produce very good tea!

I'd definitely recommend this tea for those interested in a black tea with strong dried fruit and spice notes and no astringency.

Why the occasional duplicate sentence written in Chinese?  

One of my goals starting in 2016 is to improve my Chinese language skills so this is one way I'm going about it.  
Please comment if you noticed I've totally messed up!  Thanks!