In my order from moychay.nl the two largest bags were 50 grams of Thai red and Thai green.
I was stupid enough not to have ordered a sample of the Thai loose sheng variant as well;
and I have yet to sample the Thai green.
The inflated bag size is due to the large and unruly leaf shape, which is essentially as advertised. The hot dry leaf gave off a complex aroma which at that point I could not readily pick apart, but it must have been a mix of the bag note, which is indeed apple-y, and the wet leaf note, which after some effort I pinpointed to be (Dutch) beef stew.
It was evident that my water absorbed some high notes as usual, rendering the apple
note nonexistent in most steepings, which leaves me no other option than to describe
the flavour as if it were a half-and-half mix of black tea and bone broth.
So. It is once again confirmed that tea can come in any flavour save garlic and onion (although this one came close).
And it can get away with it, perhaps due to not actually being greasy. So if I had to sell this tea, I would perhaps have opted to describe the experience as “a very evident terroir vaguely reminescent of African green tea, but ultimately transcending any comparison”.
Meat issues aside I can’t say that there is anything that struck me as confirming the “old trees” label, but then again neither was the price. Not very much in the way of Qi.
Overall judgement: sympathetically different, though slightly too different to really recommend in general. Looking forward to compare it to the green.
Flavors: Apple, Broth
The one Thai red I’ve had that was called “gushu” gave my senses no indication that the leaves were actually from old trees. It was overall an uninspired tea.