I’ve always held Hai Lang Hao teas in very high regard and this tea lives up to that easily. If I had the budget I’d buy a cake of this without hesitation. Alas, I do not so I only have a sample. The aroma of the dry leaf is kind of tart, maybe cherries? I only have a sample so it isn’t as intense as the full brick would be. Once wet, the aroma loses some of the tartness, becoming more dates with some almond. This seems to be medium to medium light fermentation – doesn’t taste like HK stored sheng like my Chen Yuan Hao ripe in a slightly higher $/g range though the price of that is supposed to double. This still has the “shou” taste so has more everyday appeal to me. Some fermentation flavor but nothing unpleasant – more like obscuring the other flavors. Mostly bittersweet with chocolate tones early on. It opens up to become more of a neutral dried fruit flavor with lots of sweetness later on. Some tartness and almond flavors also emerge but come and go. Throughout the session the tea is thick, creamy, and oily. Honestly, this tea is best slurped down hot and fast and normally I like my tea to cool a bit since I am super sensitive to temperature. It also has a hard hitting sheng like qi which isn’t what I normally look for but other people will probably love.
Flavors: Almond, Cherry, Dark Bittersweet, Dates, Sweet
