2006 Bulang, Tiandiren Teavivre
I mentioned a couple weeks back that I had this after someone mentioned having it. I noted that it tasted horrible. I was flash steeping at 195 and it tasted like cigarette water. Yeah, I’m from Iowa and I went through my tobacco chewing days like everyone else. The worst “chew,” as it’s called, imho, is the sawdust stuff that comes in a hockey-puck called Copenhagen. This all to say that brewed at that temp, this Bulang conjured memories of Iowa and I was only too eager for the right time to try again at my normal raw tea temp of 175. Big, big, big difference. Positive. Much sweeter, a hint of sour. The cigarette, not necessarily tobacco but yes, taste lingers in the background, not unpleasantly.