This is one of the several free samples generously sent to me by AprTea, a new Chinese tea vendor located in Anxi (Fujian, China). I much appreciate both the samples and the fact that we seem to have gotten another quality vendor of Fujian and other Chinese teas, of which I am a big, big fan. The collection of samples came in simple but visually appealing sample bags packed in a cardboard tube. I actually like their design that is minimalist with a touch of a faded antique style: it’s practical, tasteful and good for the environment.
The tea itself consists of visually pleasing golden snails, quite uniform in size and color. This is the tea that is well suited to gongfu. I had three infusions and all of them gave something new. The aroma was the one that you often get from a good Yunnan tea with honeyed sweetness and malt.
The first steep was short (10 seconds) and the tea came out quite mild, with the notes of baked bread, sweet potatoes, honey, hay, malt and wild flowers. It came out as very fresh and authentic , i.e. “real”. I increased the second infusion to 25 seconds and the tea aquired a pleasant bitterness , metallic and minty notes. The bitter chocolate aftertaste lingered for a long time. The third and final infusion (25 sec) gave me a very mellow tea with all kinds of muted sweetness and barely a hint of bitterness.
Well, I liked this tea quite a bit. It tastes very “real” and three-dimensional and responds well to experimenting with a gaiwan. On the negative side is that I am not a big fan of a strongdark chocolate bitterness and that this tea does not give you a lot of quality infusions, both of which is not that uncommon in dianghongs.
I am really looking forward to trying other samples from AprTea.Flavors: Bread, Dark Chocolate, Flowers, Herbaceous, Honey, Malt, Mint, Sweet Potatoes
