I did a horrible moan of pleasure when I put the first steep in my mouth.
It’s good to have one or two teas that do that for you. The balance is utterly perfect — I was expecting it to be a tannin river, but it lubricates the mouth with so much bourbon, peat, smoke, and sugar. It’s very much a gushu black tea with all that promises. I was hoping I wouldn’t, but now I need a cake of this.
Elements of whiskey usually found in yunnan black, with a touch of restraint I identify in sun dried versions — like a splash of cold water in the drink. Obscenely thick both in the mouth and visibly while pouring it around. The peat taste contributes to the sensation. I agree that there’s a suggestion of medicinal that rounds the flavor further. Very lasting taste that perhaps couldn’t be called an aftertaste so much as a heavyweight finish. The brown sugar appears after swallowing, and so does the rainwatery, puddle-immersed black tea smell. My brain is trying to think of ways to turn the knob further — hotter, longer, more leaf. I really am tasting all elements of the tea as much as a minute after I’ve had it.
Started out with a 30s steep, no rinse, and continued with 25-30sec steeps. The taste is consistent along the beginning and middle period. If oversteeped, it becomes more bitter than astringent. It certainly has family resemblance to other dian hongs, but this much power in the same amount of leaf would be hard to reproduce.
