Wow, I guess Auggy and I are the only ones brave enough to try this scarey looking tea. :) I think the dry leaves smells kind of fishy, soy saucey. Not bad—rather savory smelling. I pulled out the Yixing, because after reading Auggy’s notes, I was actually worried I might kill myself if I steeped this for 4-5 minutes western style. I went with about 8 ounces water and the whole package (7 grams?) at 195F for 45 seconds. The brew was not bad…kind of like some funky Pu-erh with a toasty, salty, fishy kind of finish. I rather liked it and will steep another for longer this time. The wet leaves smell exactly like belt leather…did this one for well over a minute, but since I just received my Silk Road Teas order from the UPS guy, I’d turned the Zojirushi down to 175….so steeped at 190. Much darker steep this time! Less fishy and much more leathery salty taste. It isn’t bad, in fact, I’d recommend a sample of this just for the weirdness factor. That and it seems to be giving me a good caffeine buzz too, somehow. I am going to be brave and try another steep at 4 minutes with a little more water. Hmm..I think this one tastes the best, however, my water is getting colder as I get ready to have Chinese greens so I’ll have to end it here. Not your father’s oolong and not something I’d buy again, but all-in-all, not a horrible experience considering it was 20 years old. :) The juvenile in me likes how my son pronounced this…Wang Tan Pee.
195 °F / 90 °C
0 min, 45 sec
