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I purchased this tea last year after reading some glowing reviews on Steepster. I often find Red Jades to be too astringent, but this one was recommended as being smooth. I also very much enjoyed the Yu Chi Assam What-Cha carries, and I was hoping this tea would be of similar quality. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml porcelain pot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of sassafras, menthol, malt, raisins, and sweet potato. The first steep has strong notes of sassafras, menthol, and malt, with hints of cinnamon, cream, raisins, red grapes, and sweet potato. Some tannins are present, but they’re not overwhelming. The next steep is very similar, though the sassafras is stronger. Steeps three and four add notes of juniper, molasses, and honey, and that menthol flavour resolves into wintergreen (though maybe this is a result of reading Derk’s tasting note). Later steeps give me more honey, molasses, malt, sweet potato, and bread, though there’s still plenty of sassafras and wintergreen. I accidentally let one of the later steeps cool down and can notice the plum and nectarine Eastkyteaguy mentioned in the aroma. The final steeps have lots of tannins, minerals, bread, honey, and malt.

This is one of the smoothest Red Jades I’ve had, though I still prefer other types of Taiwanese black tea. The sassafras and wintergreen are especially prominent, which I think is the point of this cultivar. It never gets overly tannic as other Red Jades have done in later steeps, and the complexity of flavours is impressive. I hope Alistair gets this tea back in stock.