I received a sample of this as part of the 2017 Sheng Olympiad. The dry leaf smells faintly of sweet apricot. With a quick rinse, the leaves smell like intensely sweet dried apricot. The first steep is extremely light but I can taste a background nuttiness.
Once this tea gets going, it’s apricot sweet and thick with a long lasting, mouth coating aftertaste. It’s mildly bitter and there’s some very light astringency on the tip of the tongue.
By the time my steeps are at about a minute long, the flavor profile has shifted to the vegetal side of things. It’s full-bodied but not as sweet as the initial infusions. With the leaves fully opened, I can tell that this is pretty high quality material. The leaves are large and mostly intact. They’ve got some real staying power as well. I haven’t been counting steeps but it’s more than what I usually get with teas at this price point (which is excellent at just over $.10/g).
