John Ciubuc Send Message

Just from the dry aroma it has a very milk chocolate flavour to it. Probably a less harsh cousin of the laoshan black, lets see.

The aroma of the wash smells strikingly like laoshan black. Chocolate, Cocoa, wood, malt, and a bit mineral to it too.

But we’re here for the flavour, no?

First steep, this tastes nearly identical to verdant’s laoshan black, just not as bitter. Steep was around 7s. Definitely predominant cocoa, toasted, wood, and malty notes. I would say there’s a faint honeysuckle as well. Overall very similar to laoshan black.

Second steep was done a little longer (13s). With a longer steep, I can confidently say that this tea is practically identical to Laoshan black, just has a lighter taste in comparison (expanding: less chocolate, roast, and malt flavour). If you ever had a laoshan black and steeped it several times, you’ll notice how the flavour tends to wane a little bit near the end with a bit of bitterness becoming more present. This is how this tea tastes on its second steep.

Third steep tasted as if the tea exhausted its flavour. A little bit of the chocolate notes remain, with the maltness present too. Bitterness exists as well, but that can be attributed to steeping it for a longer period. Granted there was like 30 minutes between steep 2 and 3 (dinner), but the tea was left to dry without getting steamed.

This tea started strong but ended weak rather fast. It tastes like a lesser cousin of both the laoshan black and laoshan roasted oolong. Overall not impressed. If the flavour was unique, I would rate it highly, but it’s completely dwarfed by laoshan black and roasted oolong. I’d have to put this on my very low rating list. Barely survived 2 steeps and overall mediocre.