Ooo… this is bizarre. I had this at work today with filtered water, Western style. Having at home tonight, gong fu style, bottled water.
Here are my notes from work: Oh, hello, honey & bread! Moderate body but big flavor. So close to Taiwanese Wild Mountain black but from China. Dry leaves have a yeasty, fermented fruit and wine-y single origin chocolate type of scent. Steeped liquor is mainly a bready scent. Flavors of honey, yeast and fruit. There must be more of this obtained before they are out again. Western, 4 minutes, 205F, 2 tsp/10 oz.
And tonight at home: Similar scents, but sweeter. The liquor actually has a sweet aftertaste that is making me think of what licorice root does to my tastebuds. It creates a weird sweetness that lingers on my lips and in my mouth. It’s nothing I enjoy. I actually rinsed out my mouth three times to make sure I didn’t have anything sweet lingering from food earlier. I’m only going to get through 10/30/45 seconds. I’m giving up and not wasting the rest. I’ll steep again Western style and see if it is my water or the steeping method. If it’s like this Western style at home, then I don’t need more of it which is both disappointing and a relief. I won’t spend that much on work tea. I don’t drink cheap tea at work but nothing this expensive either.
Bizarre.
