This tea is neither terrible nor is it incredible, it is somewhere in the middle. Judging by the strength of my last steep, steep eight it could be ancient tree. I think this would easily go fifteen steeps. It was still very strong in steep eight. As to big leaf tea it certainly is big leaf tea, that is apparent in the leaves. There was a slight sour note in the first two steeps that went away by steep three or so. There was little bitterness in the tea. It did develop a decent sweetness to it. Some people will really like this tea and some people will hate it. One note to mention, there was little aroma in the dry leaves and the tea came packed in heavy shrink wrap. I suppose they were trying to prevent degrading of the tea.
I steeped this tea eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 8.7g leaf and boiling water. I gave the tea a ten second rinse then let the leaves sit for ten minutes. I steeped the tea for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.
Having seen the Instagram photos, this would be a tea I know I would like. Since it isn’t heicha, it definitely is huang pian leaf. The sour note on the first couple steeps suggests really dry storage and the cake could get really a dusty rub on it. The shrink wrap probably keeps those leaves looking nice which they definitely do! An interesting tea.
I am curious to see if you buy one of these cakes. It was an excellent price. I think it’s still available. What is the significance of huang pian leaf?