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One of the best from Rishi. Brewed gongfu style @ 180-190F. Reminds me of walking through a green forest during a rain shower. Very comforting, less floral than other teas in this style (though still floral) and with more earthiness. Very good daily drinker. While this is not the highest grade iron goddess oolong, it was surprisingly good for Rishi and I am glad good tea is becoming more widely available. Good stuff!

Brewed gongfu style with one rinse and quick, 5 second steeps for the first 3 or so steeps, gradually working up to about a minute. As this tea is only about 3 years old, it has mostly the flavor of green tea or lightly roasted oolong. Leaves are very green once they open, are mostly intact, and the liquor is a pale green-yellow.
First flavors are earthy vegetal flavors, somewhat grassy but the fermentation adds a rounder, oolong-ish earthiness rather than the bright grassiness of a sencha or other green teas.
Fair amount of bitterness, but not off-putting. Can be cut with lower brew temps, but at the cost of some complexity. Later steepings round out the flavor and are less bitter. Good Chi. The bitterness and young age may point to a slightly upset stomach for some, but it hasn’t been an issue for me. I don’t drink tea on an empty stomach, though. Not the most complex and exciting tea I’ve ever had but I find it very pleasing when I want something in the green tea vein, and drink it maybe every other day without getting tired of it.

Brewed gong-fu with near boiling and later tried with 190 F. Small, nicely rolled leaves. Strong barley flavor- really the main flavor to me. Having been a homebrewer in the past, this tastes remarkably similar to wort (roasted barley “tea”, beer before fermentation or hops). I also get some plum and other dark fruit flavors but this tea is pretty one-dimensional for me. I much prefer the laoshan green, and would not seek out this black again.