The dry leaves from this tea seem smaller and have plenty of visible stems both connected and loose. There is definitely a sweeter aroma prior to their infusion, however this is lost somewhere along the way. This is, of course, is dissapointing, but all is not lost since the tea is still pleasant.
I find this tea very similar to the Ti Kuan Yin from Shan Wai Shan and both are packaged very similarly; however this one is distributed out of California and Shan Wai Shan is out of Fuzhou, China. Nonetheless, they both are very nice teas for their own price range: <$10 for 300g (found on sale at local International Supermarket)
Regardless of how much was paid (which I do pay MUCH more for other higher quality teas), this tea is judged by what I taste and from knowing that I have reached for this one many times so far this year.
