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Brewed in my black Korean infuser cup, so I remain largely ignorant of the liquor’s appearance.

New car smell with some floral and dusty sugar notes.
Rich and potent (albeit somewhat generic) flavor, suggesting baking chocolate with hints of banana leaf and river stones in the finish. Vaguely malty. Low vegetal/camp-fire notes in the aftertaste along with a gentle astringency if not briskness if the infusion is pushed.

Medium-thick mouth-feel, but not oily.

A solid, robust, almost “muscular” Kandy offering – while I don’t favor most Ceylons as breakfast teas, I think this one would stand up to a drop of cream.

After 22 months, I’m at the bottom of my 5oz bag of this.

Filtered Santa Monica municipal water to my Taiwanese purple clay tea-pot, to my glass cha hai, into my porcelain cup.

1st steep (20 seconds): Butterscotch liquor; floral-backed charcoal aromatics; sweet dark roast palate entry with hints of ash and Ovaltine; velvety medium-thick body.

While I generally appreciate and prefer heavy fire/dark roast/baked oolongs, there is not much left of the tea’s own character underlying the charcoal here; not a good candidate for aging, but adequate (and inexpensive) as a daily drinker.

After sipping a Hao-Ya yesterday, I’m moving on to a Mao Feng this morning. Of course, you immediately notice the leaf shape is different, the Mao Feng being notably thicker as each is full and unbroken, tightly twisted into a shape resembling a gnarled and tarred tree branch.

Prepared in my Jian Shui gaiwan, and served in my porcelain tea cup via my glass cha hai. Filtered Santa Monica municipal water just off the boil throughout.

Using a little less tea and a little more time today (infusions starting at 1 minute and slowly increasing from there): safety orange liquor; gentle, faintly malty aroma; wheat and cocoa on the palate with hints of chestnut or pecan in the finish; very clean and energizing without briskness or acidity. Some additional complexity can be coaxed out with longer infusions, with very subtle notes of chewing tobacco, carob, and potting soil emerging in the finish – but this tea has a wonderful clarity if you don’t over-steep.

Very fine, delicate, wiry leaves.

Prepared in my Jian Shui gaiwan, and served in my porcelain tea cup via my glass cha hai. Filtered Santa Monica municipal water just off the boil throughout.

Deep bole liquor with copper highlights; faintly floral and flinty aroma; brisk palate entry with hints of raisin and smoke (or nearly-burnt toast); dry almost chalky finish; low, raw, dusty cocoa flavor lingers on, especially with longer steep times (e.g. starting with 40 seconds rather than 15-20).

Refined and potent (caffeine is very present) but this tea has a certain “arid” quality to it so it isn’t one I would turn to for comfort.

Received as a sample from the company.

Brewed in my porcelain Jingdezhen gaiwan with Los Angeles municipal tap water just off the boil throughout.

Gold tipped, twisted, wiry leaves.

No rinse, starting with a 30 second infusion: burnt umber/seal brown gradient in the cup; sweet potato, burdock, loam, and low vegetal notes in the nose; the flavors mirror and intensify the aromatic notes, adding to them a long finish suggesting roasted pecans, cocoa nibs, cassia, and autumn leaves. Fairly tannic but presenting as more minerality than bitterness. Lacks the sweetness and creamy malt notes of superior Dian Hong, but is pleasingly robust without being bracing.

Many subsequent infusions at 15 – 45 seconds preserve the same character, though the sweetness gives over more and more to a drab hint of cinnamon.

While more refined than many ripe pu-erh, it could serve a similar function as a counter-point to a meal.

On my last session with this cake – it has been an almost daily drinker for me at work lately.

Brewing this in my Jian Shui gaiwan into my glass cha hai and porcelain cup. Using filtered Santa Monica tap water just off the boil throughout. Not weighing the leaf, but I’m guessing I use between 9g and 12g of material. The dried cake has a distinctive camouflage appearance with an abundance of black and white leaves.

No rinse, but I start the initial infusion at 90 seconds as the tea is so dry. At this point the liquid is a royal yellow and has a distinctive aroma of fresh hay with a hint of oats. The flavor is sweet, gentle, and faintly grassy. Earth, toast, and honey emerge in the finish.

Subsequent steeps are around 20 seconds, resulting in a darker, alloy orange liquid, a more vegetal (autumn leaves) aroma, and a slight acidity in the palate entry. The hay remains at the core, but there is a certain low level bitterness that emerges now, presumably as higher oxidized portions of the cake wake from their slumber.

This easily lasts 10 infusions once it gets going – the caffeine is sufficiently pronounced that I usually quit imbibing before the leaf is fully spent.

An interesting, if unremarkable tea – the white/black combo was new to me – happy I bought a cake, but not sure I’ll develop a craving for it in the future now that it is gone…

[UPDATE – I discovered that this tea responds well when you extend the late infusions a great deal (>8 minutes) – the resulting liquid is more concentrated at first, and has a sweet complexity towards the end of the session, finally revealing the stone fruit/peach notes I was hoping to find earlier.]

11 years old now, rather than 9…my first encounter with Da Hong Pao:

Brewed in my porcelain Jingdezhen gaiwan with Los Angeles municipal tap water just off the boil throughout.

5-6 infusions ranging from 5 seconds to 2+ minutes: field drab liquor; ash, river stones, leather, and wood-ear…no stone fruit that I can detect, though a hint of spice appears in later steepings (star anise? pepper?). Woodsy, dry finish.

More one-note than I anticipated, and yielding a shorter session than I hoped (I wonder if this is true of most Wu-Yi teas? I experienced the same thing with the Lapsang souchong I had from Yunnan Sourcing as well)…still, pretty good over-all.

Brewed in a ceramic Korean infuser cup using filtered L.A. tap water, just off the boil.

Sienna liquor emits a pleasant bouquet of muscatel, peach, and berry syrup. Fruity and floral on the palate, almost sweet, with hints of loam and cocoa in the finish. Medium bodied with restrained tannins offering only mild astringency; I might steep this for an additional minute if I was seeking a more “brisk” extraction.

The wet leaves have hints of purple, and smell faintly vegetal.

A 5 minute second steep is a bit lighter and more one-note, but by no means bland.

An 8-10 minute final infusion is lighter and sweeter still.

Well unified, with an above-average aroma, this is a pleasant afternoon tea and a reasonable value. This would also be an excellent choice iced or as the base for a kombucha.

Wanted a strong yet refined cuppa the morning of my first Father’s Day – found my sample of this Assam and thought I would give it a go rather than my usual CTC breakfast offerings.

Brewed this up in my 6 cup Chatsford teapot – 6 grams infused for 10 minutes before the first pour, on up to an hour+ for the final. A small touch of milk in a bone china cup, topped off by the tea throughout.

Floral and sweetly spicy aromatics – biscuity malt with a faint “baked goods” note on the palate – comparing some without milk, there isn’t much complexity to bury here, so no need to feel guilty for adulterating it. Not too tannic, not at all brisk, this survives a lengthy infusion without developing excessive bitterness, but the flavor doesn’t really intensify over time either.

Maybe this grade of Assam is the Goldilocks of tea for many, but I prefer either the potency and intense malt of cheaper offerings or the refinement of top-shelf leaves to the anodyne middle-of-the-road quality on display here.

I’ll try doubling the leaves next time (12 grams) to see if I can coax any more character out of the cup…will revisit this review at that time.