I really enjoyed this tea. It’s got almost zero fermentation flavor to it. It has a little bitterness in the beginning. It’s got some nice sweet notes. There’s a hard to describe note in there too. Not an unpleasant note. I’m thinking maybe dates but that is just an impression. I gave it eight steeps and it’s got a fruityness to it in later steeps. This is a moderately expensive shou. I was taking a risk ordering without sampling first at $62. Luckily I figured I could trust Scott not to sell me something terrible and it wasn’t too expensive.
I steeped this eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 8.8g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. If I hadn’t hit my caffeine limit for the day I’m sure I could get four or five more steeps out of it.
Flavors: Bitter, Dates, Sweet
If you use “stonefruit”, you seem like a pro even when your “date” is someone elses “plum” or “cherry” :)