The most complex black tea I have ever tasted(not to mention super high quality deep ruby red purple whole un broken leaves), it develops almost like an oolong over multiple fast gongfu steepings. First a whisper of cinnamon spice then fruity like a date or raison then the winter green/minty taste creeps in and has a cooling effect.
The first time I brewed it western style in my gaiwan for 2 mins and it tasted of super strong camphor in a bad way. This is my second tasting/review and this time around I brewed it differently but also the dry leaf didn’t smell as strong either. The taiwanese pack their teas for extreme freshness, in a completely air free sealed foil(all my jade and high mt oolong came in these rock hard foil bags) and I maybe crazy but every taiwanese tea has tasted the strongest (whether for good or bad) upon that first opening. This review comes the day after I opened and im glad I gave this a second chance. Also excited to log more once ive experimented with steeping times.
So far I can recommend 4g dry leaf to 100 ml 195 degree water in a gaiwan 1 min steeping increasing by 30 seconds after 2-3 steepings (this flavor profile is way to unique for a yixing unless you plan on dedicating it to this tea).
Flavors: Anise, Dates
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
I’m glad that you play with steep times and temps (some people give up on the first try which is a mistake!!!). Tea can be challenging sometimes but well worth the time and effort. I also enjoy that interesting coolness found in many Taiwanese tea’s…gives dimension to the tasting.
I love the aroma of Taiwanese black teas, as well as the taste. :)
I’m glad that you play with steep times and temps (some people give up on the first try which is a mistake!!!). Tea can be challenging sometimes but well worth the time and effort. I also enjoy that interesting coolness found in many Taiwanese tea’s…gives dimension to the tasting.
I love the aroma of Taiwanese black teas, as well as the taste. :)