The dry leaf smell like fresh bread, a light fruitiness reminiscent of cherry and apricot, and some wood and cocoa.
after settling in the warmed gaiwan, I get an aroma of sour cherries and/or sour peaches, hay, dark cooking chocolate and wine
First steeps have an aroma of barley, cocoa, wood, something that’s vaguely fishy, raspberry, there’s something leathery too.
There are notes of mango, hay, honey, the same kind of florals that you might find in a bai mu dan, but it has an enormous body, a really lovely mouthfeel, with very pleasant bitterness, a decent amount of astringency, and a slight metallic feeling (no metallic taste), with thickness. A wine-like aroma entering on the third steep, this really tastes a lot like white tea, it’s strange.
They astringency gets strong quickly, and becomes a bit overpowering around the middle of the session; I had to decrease my steeping time quite a bit to make it tolerable and at that point the rest of the mouthfeel is a bit emptier, I can’t find a nice balance anymore
It softens up a bit in the mid-late area, but the flavours get a bit bland around there, sweet honey, hay, and a bit of cocoa and a lingering taste,
It’s a tasty tea, nothing spectacular but it’s enjoyable
Flavors: Cherry, Cocoa, Earth, Flowers, Hay, Honey, Mango, Peach, Raspberry, Red Wine, Roasted Barley, Strawberry, Wood
I tried playing around with this one today, much shorter steeps were a lot more effective, I think a higher leaf ratio plus shorter steeps is a better way to go with this one, it’s a bit fussy