Second tea of my Taiwanese black tea sampler. The Sun Moon Lake T-18 was bust but this one did not disappoint. The long, graceful yancha like leaves are interspersed with orange twigs and smell like a mixture of cocoa, flowers, berries, and dark molasses. I brewed 3g in a 160ml teapot following my standard gongfu method for black teas: 30s initial infusion at boiling followed by flash steeps.
The first steep opened with sweet potato and then as it cooled, revealed chocolate and a hint of blackberries. Subsequent steeps were noticeably lighter. The second steep tasted of cocoa with overtones of vanilla bean and buttercream. The remaining 3 steeps were similar with prominent notes of berries, vanilla, and cream.
This was a mellow and tasty black tea that doesn’t hit you over the head with anything. The flavor profile was similar to some wuyi black and lapsang teas I’ve had. Enjoyable but doesn’t really set itself apart from other Chinese black teas.
Flavors: Berries, Cocoa, Cream, Molasses, Vanilla
That still sounds good.