I had heard mostly good things about this tea and seriously considered blind-tonging the 2018 release based on reputation and price and wrapper design alone. Glad I didn’t! I must just hate this taste profile that includes smoke. Many people love it. To me, it tastes clearly of ashtray. Hot ashtray water. Tried brewing it stronger to see if I can at least feel some of the cha qi. The taste is stronger ashtray water, though. :tears emoji:
I am probably just spoiled, but sorry Yunnan Sourcing. This ain’t it.
Just read the 2018 product description. Seems the blend must have changed since 2012. Maybe the 2018 will therefore be better. Jinggu is a region I’ve liked. But this 2012 is bleccch. Really happy Andrew aka Liquid Proust sent this out as part of the 2019 starter kit so people can sample at low cost before commitment.
The 2019 certainly doesn’t have any noticeable smoke. Same for 2014. Those are the only ones I’ve tried.