Toni Westbrook Send Message

This is my second time making this now – the first I did Western style for 4 minutes or so. When I did it that way, the taste was actually pretty light – and I’m not sure if that’s because I got a batch that was slightly older (it was picked in 2010 so its probably been about a year now), or what. This time I did it per DTH’s instructions for Gaiwan prep, with boiling water at 30 seconds (with 1:4 tea/water ratio). Definitely more flavor this time, the smell is VERY earthy which I totally dig, but the taste is still overall not super impressive (not bad by any means, but I’m not sure it’s worth the higher price tag). I’m just drinking the 3rd steep from the Gaiwan, and it tastes better than the first, so I think this tea has a lot of potential, it’s just very difficult to open up its flavor without exact preparation.