Pablo’s Lighthouse,
Shining bright in the darkness,
Guiding travellers home

Golden Pagoda is a famous tea from the Yunnan province of China that used to be the kingdom of Dian. The area specializes in black tea production, and generally on this site I’ll have a Dian Hong (Dian Red Tea) or two for sale, but for the next little bit here, it looks like I’ll have several! Golden Pagoda will be my mid-tier option in the world of black tea, and Golden Wire will be the high end replacement for the Giant Golden Needles which I’ve sold since 2022 and am almost out of.

I don’t usually sell Golden Pagoda, but not for reasons that would make sense to the common person. Golden Pagoda isn’t really a ‘loose tea’, in the strictest definition. It comes ‘conveniently’ compressed into little tower shapes, which you simply add into water. There is something cool to be said about its appearance, it’s distinctive… but…

Look, I make tea very specifically — oddly specifically, down to the gram, mL, and second. If tea is loose, I can adjust my weight of tea to be whatever I desire; I can (for example) create a scale-able recipe that uses 1g of tea for 69g of water. With something like Golden Pagoda, where each ‘tower’ is 5g or so, I don’t have that freedom, and am almost forced to brew tea in ‘batches’ of 330mL. Most people would be happy to give up that freedom for the convenience it provides, but its a logistical hassle for me. If each ‘tower’ was exactly 3g, it would be easier. but then that’s not the case. This isn’t an industrially made product where each tower is a replica of the one before it, this tower is 3.5g, the next is 3.8g, the next is 3g. This fluctuation means in order for me to drink this tea at its optimal flavor, I’ll need to weigh the tea each time, and adjust the water needed, that will require a calculation, and calculating stuff every time I make tea is a hassle. So, usually I’m not buying the Golden Pagoda for that reason.

The good news is, almost no one is like me. You can drop one of these towers in a tea pot, add water, wait a bit, and drink great black tea.

The name ‘Pablo’s Lighthouse’ comes from the flavor profile of the tea. It tastes like an apricot caramel glazed toasted marshmallow cheesecake. In Osaka, Japan there is a cheesecake chain called Pablo Cheese Tarts which is amazing at something called a rare cheesecake. Anyway I think this tea is a liquid version of the flavor of these tarts. It’s a wonderful pairing. We very fortunately have a location of Pablo in Calgary.

My brewing experiences and recommendations with this tea will be separated into 2 groups (1 tower or 2)

Regardless of the amount of towers added to the pot,  the brews are all done using 330mL of boiling water, what varies is the steeping time. Since each tower is not exactly the same weight, there will be fluctuations in strength, but they cannot easily be accounted for, and thus are not.

1 Tower Group

1 Tower (2, 3, 4 minute comparisons)
2m: My firsts impression was that it reminds me of the aroma of raw egg covering a thin slice of cooked beef (sukiyaki), it was my first smell of tea today and didn’t come up again in all of the other tasting notes throughout the day. My second impressions were that there is a gentle apricot note, and a gentle caramel note. The flavor is weak, watery, it has a kind of toasted marshmallow flavor.
3m: First impression was it smells mulchy, with typical black tea aromas, and it smells like it’ll be astringent. My second thoughts were more that it smells like a paper bag (very common descriptor of black tea to me), but then also medicinal like manuka honey. The flavor was less watery than its 2m counterpart but its noticeably and unpleasantly astringent.
4m: First impression was it’s deep, brown papery, and hiding something deeper. Second impression was unrecorded, must not have been impressive. The flavor was rich, pretty ‘classic’ in how black tea tastes, not marshmallow-y, not astringent, but also not unique.

My conclusion of the initial 3 brews was that there is a good flavor window between 2 minutes and 3 minutes, and there is likely another window after 4 minutes. Since the 2-3 minute window was more interesting, my next test will be between 2m15s, 2m30s, 2m45s.

1 Tower (2m15s, 2m3os, 2m45s comparisons)
2m15s: First impressions were the aroma is like powdered honey, it carries the hallmarks of an orange pekoe tea like jin jun mei). Second impression was it smells great, it’s a joy to inhale the aroma, it’s whimsical and imaginative. The flavor is good but I think that the astringency is showing too much, I don’t get the marshmallow notes that I was getting when it was brewed at 2m.
2m30s: First impressions were it has a pie crust aroma, it’s baked, and richer than 15s. Second impression was it’s kind of boring in comparison to to 15s, it became dull due to being too literal. Boring flavor.
2m45s: First impressions were it’s developing some fruity apricot pie notes, and it’s the richest of the 3 brews in this comparison. The second thought was that it’s also boring. The texture is rich, that is its only saving grace though. It has a boring flavor.

My conclusion of the 2nd round of brews was that the maximum time limit to brew 1 tower and get optimal flavor in 330mL is probably 2 minutes and 8 seconds. It might be better to brew shorter than 2 minutes. Now that I have established the maximum time, I will find the minimum time.

1 Tower (1m37s, 1m45s, 1m 52s comparisons)
1m 37s: My first impression was that there is an unwanted flavor, like the burned aroma when you turn on a furnace for the first time in a long time — burned dust or something similar. My second impression was that nothing about it seems appealing, having the knowledge that even 2m tastes light, it makes me not even want to bother trying this steeping. The flavor tasted like hot water, with basically nothing interesting going on.
1m45s: My first impression was about the powdered honey and baked aromas that we found earlier up to 2m15s. With more time to think about it, I decided it smells great, there are only positive things to say. The flavor was still too watery though, I was surprised as the aroma led me to believe otherwise.
1m52s: By comparison to 1m45s, the aroma was sweeter, and fruitier (apricot glaze), also like 1m45s, I have nothing bad to say about the aroma after a lengthy time spent smelling it. The flavor was still weak, but it’s .. acceptable. 2m was better than this.

My conclusion of the 3rd round of brews was that in order to get the optimal aromas present in the pot, you need at least 1m45s. Unfortunately most of the time spent in this round was just reminiscing about how good 2m was.

The grand conclusion of the light 1 tower brews:
For a good pot of this tea, use 1 tower for 330mL of boiling water. It must steep for a minimum of 1 minute and 45 seconds, up to a maximum of 2 minutes and 8 seconds. I guess it depends on how light you like it, but I like to go to the heavier side in these windows. Let it be known that 2 minutes and 8 seconds was not tested, but adjusting in 8 second windows gives a rather predictable outcome in my experience. I fully expect that once I begin doing the 2 tower brews, that all of this will become irrelevant. It seems crystal clear to me, and without any testing whatsoever, that 2 towers for 1m45s would make for an excellent pot of tea. I will begin the 2 tower tastings once I have another free day.

1 Tower Long Time (4m30s, 5m, 5m30s comparisons)
4m30s: The aroma starts to develop notes of molassas and baking spices, sort of like a snickerdoodle cookie. It’s actually pretty pleasant to drink, there is a nice sweetness in the aroma, I don’t find the astringency unpleasant at all, it’s hard to notice it over the weight of the flavor.
5m: the aroma is drier, and browner, and it’s headed in the direction of fermented vegetal aromas (mulchy, pumpkin). It does finish up more tannic on the tongue than 4m30s. It’s interesting but 4m30s is better.
5m30s: It has perfumey caramel notes, I think I could convince someone blindfolded that this is a hot chocolate package brewed weak with water. I can feel the heat of the tannins clearly in my cheeks and on the tip of my tongue. It’s not unpleasant, but it is very warming. The flavor is similar to kabocha pumpkin simmered in soysauce, mirin, sugar, and dashi (Japanese nimono)

My conclusions of 1 Tower Long Time was it’s hard to decide if 4m30s or 5m30s is better. They’re both quite good for different reasons — gun to my head, 4m30s is better, because you can enjoy it mindlessly or think about it if you want to. 5m30s would be better if you were eating food alongside it. It has too much presence in the mouth to mindlessly drink it.

2 Tower Group

My tastings with 2 towers will be done with a little more care, as to not waste tea unnecessarily. Especially since the 1 tower tastings have taught me much about how this flavor evolves. Rather than doing side by sides, I will just prepare one pot at a time and observe.

2 Towers : 330mL, Rolling Boil, 1m45s
The apricot glaze aroma of the Pablo Cheese Tart is the main aroma. The flavor is good, it’s light but oily, it coats the mouth with a filmy layer. I’m not convinced this is better than the great 1 tower brews. Though the film it leaves behind on the tongue is unique to this method, and it would be interesting in how that would play into pairings, or into a flight of tea. This pot was very good, not great.

2 Towers : 330mL, Rolling Boil, 2m8s
Aromas are spicy and complex, fruity and caramel. The flavor is accompanied by a lot of heat. I think I can taste the marshmallow notes I mentioned in the 1 tower brews but I am also actively looking for them (which is not fair). The marshmallow notes are definitely not prominent like they were with 1 tower.

2 Tower Tasting Conclusion: Both were fine, I feel exploring out of this window would be a waste of time before the 4m30s mark, but there could be some cool things that happen earlier than 1m45s (though probably not less than 1m30)

Golden Pagoda Grand Conclusion:

“1 Tower when alone, 2 towers with friends or food” I think the lightness of 1 tower with shorter steepings makes for an interesting cha dao experience, an experience which would be lost over conversation or with the presence of food. I’m actually kind of surprised that any of the 1 tower brews out performed the two, 2 tower brews.