2025 Gaba Gu Shu Black Tea

UPD. The 2025 batch is roasted slightly more than the previous one, the aroma contains baked Dong Ding notes, a little chocolate and nuts.

It's a classic "Red Gaba" from old trees (Gaba Gu Shu Hong Cha), aged around 300 years old. The material grade is high: small, whole flushes, two-three leaves and a bud. The leaves are rolled up nice and tight in the oolong style.

After trying 5 new GABA tea samples from trees, I confidently settled on this one, which simply captivated me with its soft caramel profile.

The aroma here seamlessly transitions into the taste, so we won't separate them.

The tea welcomes you with hints of milk toffee, condensed milk, rosehip, and rose. In the later steeps, the milk fades a bit, and the rosehip and rose take over, with a background of all sorts of garden flowers.

If I were to give it a quick name, I'd probably go with something like “Rose in Milk” or “Rose in Caramel”.

This Gaba is perfect if you're looking for something to replace black tea from trees that you're getting bored with. Because it is, in fact, black tea, but with flavor nuances from oxygen-free GABA fermentation.

This tea energizes like a good old sheng: steep by steep it pleasantly heats up the body from the inside. Yes, it gives you a nice high. No, not because of GABA. It's the rich material from the old tea trees, I know this effect quite well. It is also caught on shengs and white teas.

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