What can I say? It’s a bug-bitten oolong, so I had to try it. Because it was heavily roasted, the owner recommended that I get a 10 g sample instead of a full 50 g. (Thanks for the good advice.) I steeped 5 g of tea in a 120 ml teapot in boiling water for 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.
The dry leaves smell like honey and charcoal, but the first steep is honey and grain. In the second, the charcoal becomes apparent, along with tangy honey, grain, and walnut shells. The third and fourth steeps have notes of honey, nut shells, burnt toast, and wood. The liquor is very drying. The next few steeps are a cross between a honey oolong and a Dong Ding, with little to suggest that it was originally a green Alishan. The final few rounds still have honey and cereal flavours, with minerals, tobacco, and wood in the background.
In its favour, this tea is long lasting and keeps its honey, nutty, and toasty character till the end of the session. However, it’s drying and a little too roasted for my liking. Judging from the other teas I’ve had from this company, this is a well-made Mi Xiang; it’s just not something that appeals to me. For this reason, I’ve decided not to rate it, although I still recommend it and TheTea in general.
Flavors: Brown Toast, Char, Drying, Grain, Honey, Mineral, Nutty, Roasted, Tangy, Tobacco, Walnut, Wood
