Brewed gongfu style with one rinse and quick, 5 second steeps for the first 3 or so steeps, gradually working up to about a minute. As this tea is only about 3 years old, it has mostly the flavor of green tea or lightly roasted oolong. Leaves are very green once they open, are mostly intact, and the liquor is a pale green-yellow.
First flavors are earthy vegetal flavors, somewhat grassy but the fermentation adds a rounder, oolong-ish earthiness rather than the bright grassiness of a sencha or other green teas.
Fair amount of bitterness, but not off-putting. Can be cut with lower brew temps, but at the cost of some complexity. Later steepings round out the flavor and are less bitter. Good Chi. The bitterness and young age may point to a slightly upset stomach for some, but it hasn’t been an issue for me. I don’t drink tea on an empty stomach, though. Not the most complex and exciting tea I’ve ever had but I find it very pleasing when I want something in the green tea vein, and drink it maybe every other day without getting tired of it.
Flavors: Bitter, Grass, Moss, Round, Vegetal, Wet Earth
