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Super dark brew, looks fantastic. I don’t get much of the molasses flavor on the front but the mouthfeel of the tea is sticky. While it doesn’t specifically remind me of gingerbread (or any other Christmas spice), there is an undertone of baked bread. For the price, this is an great shou, just don’t expect a super gingerbread-y flavor.

I really enjoy bitter flavors so was excited when I got this for Christmas this year. But 2021 Gas is not bitter just to be bitter, there are great flavors during and in-between each sip. The aroma actually reminded me of menthol, maybe candy cane? Some sugary treat that one might have on the boardwalk. However, all steeps had this intense bitterness that I really enjoyed, even using flash steeps. As I got to later steeps, the gasoline flavor (no other way to put that) came out, but it’s subtle and enjoyable. I also got some winter fruit and honey flavors in between steeps. This is one of the more unique teas I’ve tried and would happily get more.

My initial experience with this tea seems to deviate from other reviewers: when I opened the package and had my first gongfu session, I got a very strong shrimp/seaweed/brine smell that seemed to overpower even the ‘shou’-ness I expected, much less the supposed orange I was supposed to be tasting. But two things reduced this: (1) I waited a few weeks before opening it up again, which helped dramatically, so there must have been something in shipping or storage that gave it that smell; and (2) I also increased my rinsing time: this brick is very tightly packed, especially if you break off a piece along the lines, so the increased time and even a double rinse helped me out.

Tasting notes after these ‘fixes’: this was actually a bit less orange than I thought, to be honest. I did get that bitter mandarin taste which I loved, but was surprised at the medicinal notes I was getting (this wasn’t a turn off, just unexpected). I think I would have preferred something called ‘Channel Orange’ with a bit more orange flavor. Overall though, I was really happy to have tried this, and it’s great for cold days – it just needed some time to get right.

Made this gongfu style – half a coin (about 3.5 g) to 50-60 mL of water. Rinsed for about 45 seconds to let the cake decompress and open up, steamed for ~30 sec. First steep for about 10 seconds, added 5-10 seconds for each steep. Starts off woodsy, then by the second/third steep, the wood pulls back and the stonefruit comes forward. Steeping too long towards the end results in a slight metallic taste, but nothing worth dumping imo.