A fun tea! Bought in early 2021; though the tea is undated, the seller writes “The material is 2012 “da shu” tea from De Hong”. Getting the tea out of the bamboo was no problem. I simply tapped a meat cleaver into the end of the bamboo, working it in until the bamboo began to split and could be pried apart with leverage from the cleaver. Found only 41g of tea in the first bamboo casing. The tea leaves came apart readily and infused quickly. After infusion, I observed that the leaves were chopped into quarter inch chunks. Smoky, spicy aroma, with a flavor of sage, celery and cedarwood. A pleasant tea that I’ve enjoyed both gong fu (14 good steepings) and Western style (4 big mug steepings) in a stainless steel strainer basket. Sometimes it’s fun to explore off the beaten path, and this tea didn’t disappoint.
Flavors: Ash, Black Pepper, Campfire, Cedar, Celery, Pine, Sage, Smoke