Wow. This was my first experience brewing gongfu style, so I’m not sure how much of this experience to attribute to the brewing method vs. the tea itself. I liked it a lot, but I can’t say I would want to drink it regularly .. does that make any sense?
Anyway, here are my summary notes:
Liquor: Deep amber-gold.
Aroma: Leaves have a very strong smell of (polished?) wood.
Tasting summary: Flavor begins light and very weakly floral, followed by (especially on the later steeps) spicy peppercorns and a bit of a numbing feeling — as if I were drinking Sichuan peppercorn oil! The wood which I smelled the aroma then enters the flavor, but is quickly succeeded by a strong, very dry cinnamon, with a somewhat chalky texture. The dryness abates, and we finish with a warm burn in the throat, like a good scotch.
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Complete notes:
Warm+dry smell: Extremely strong smell of polished wood. Very earthy. Dry dirt. Weak summer flowers.
1st steep: Liquor is a dark amber-gold. Very dark wood notes. Coffee. Finish is a bit plastic-y in the mouth, and a very dry cinnamon.
2nd steep: Wood aroma gets stronger. Much stronger finish: cinnamon taste and dryness is now accompanied by a strange chalky texture. Very little brightness in this cup, except perhaps on very first taste.
3rd steep: I smell butter in the aroma now. Not much change otherwise.
4th steep (~45 sec by now): So dry! Makes my tongue stick to the top of my mouth. And a spicy, numb feeling, like a Sichuan peppercorn. Warm, burny, dry finish — like a scotch.
5th steep (~1 min): Not much change — looks like we’re done.
Flavors: Butter, Cinnamon, Flowers, Peppercorn, Scotch, Wood
