Part of a set of hyper affordable, young Dian Hongs that I bought from Yunnan Sourcing last year. My 1st try at this tea. Beautiful leaf structure, intact, still curing by the feel of them, with a slightly sweet/fruity, earthy, classic Dian Hong aroma. The Feng Qing factory leaf is s beautiful thing.
5g, 195*f in a preheated, glazed 175ml Gaiwan
1st steep – 4 Mins – Broth, Umami, savory, very very slightly sweet notes, roasted sweet potato, fruity, oak wood, tannic, wet bark, a bit sour on the back corners of the tongue. This an unrested tea and since it is an Autumn 2017 tea and I am drinking it in March 2018, it will likely improve a lot over the next 12+ months. Next time for such a young tea I would go to 4g and steep for 3 mins, keep it lighter but still in the longer steeping range hopefully opening up some of the fruity flavors by suppressing the astringency.
Steep 2 -
Flavors: Bark, Bitter, Broth, Cacao, Fruity, Molasses, Oak, Scotch, Sweet Potatoes