JING Ceylon Black Tea

One whiff of the dry leaves of this Sri Lankan-grown tea and I couldn't wait to taste it. The wiry, medium length, black leaves smelled richly of fresh plums, dark chocolate, and cinnamon. Sri Lanka specializes in orthodox, self-drinking black teas from single estates; this one hails from the New Vithanakanda tea garden. I infused a generous teaspoon of leaves in 8 oz of 208F water for three minutes. This produced a deep coppery brown liquor that smelled woody, with a bit of dark molasses. Although the flavor had little of the sweetness of the aroma, it was smooth, woody, brisk, and full-bodied, with a mineral tang and a slightly sweet, brief finish. It was bold enough that I added a splash of half and half. It brought out the woody tannins nicely. It would take sugar well, if you were so inclined. I tried a second, four minute infusion. This produced a slightly lighter, rather cloudy liquor with a sweet, rather lemony aroma and a full but smoother taste, somewhat to my surprise. It wasn't lacking in briskness, just at a lower volume. Blacks that produce a really decent second cup are few and far between and I found myself liking this one as a self drinker more than the first. This time there was a little sweetness in the short finish, but not a lot. Overall this is a flavorful, bold tea with a definite presence on the palate. It lacks substantial finish, but produces a decent second cup and takes dairy well. Very nice.

Ceylon might best be described as the Rodney Dangerfield of the tea world: It just doesn’t get any respect. Ceylon figures prominently in many indifferent tea blends, and is a staple in paper teabags. This is a sad thing, because Ceylon, done right, is a lovely tea. Its clean lemony notes make it a perfect match with food, though it is smooth and soft enough to drink on its own. It can take to additions of lemon, milk, or sugar, but doesn’t need any. It makes a superior iced tea, and is particularly well-suited to cold brewing. Fortunately, though not unexpectedly, my friends at Jing Tea have sourced an excellent Ceylon for their customers. The leaves are reasonably long, slightly twisted, and range from dark brown-gray to reddish in hue, with a muted nose of lemon. They infuse to a medium-dark amber, and maintain the muted-lemon nose. The tea has a medium body and a strong, rich flavor. The citrus fruit in the nose takes its time to emerge on the palate, showing up mainly in the finish. The tea is far more robust than most Ceylons, but also quite smooth with only a slight astringency at the finish. Quite nice. Incidentally, while this tea is lovely on the first infusion, it doesn’t hold up well to subsequent steepings. This is typical of black teas, so I don’t regard its lack of durability as a fault. The second steeping actually tastes just fine, but doesn’t have anywhere near the magic of the first infusion.