surefire Send Message

Floral bomb. A whole bouquet of flowers in the aroma and taste. Lilies, gardenias, rose perfume, fresh rain, pine forest, strawberry candy, freeze dried raspberries, green pear, jasmine, pistachios, and steamed white rice. Elegant, confident, powerfully full-flavored and floral. Like a rich, sophisticated, impeccably dressed woman with expensive old perfume that smells of roses and the humid green jungle. This is a tea of remarkable quality and refinement.

Spring 2023 harvest: Intensely malty. Whole wheat crackers, very little sweetness. Strong aroma of Wheat Thins, sun dried tomato, bitter boiled roses, and a hint of cigar. The vegetal / floral bitterness fades away after a few steeps, leaving a very nice cocoa cookie / chocolate graham cracker flavor that lasts through several steeps and lingers on the tongue. Love the appearance: silky black and gold pellets covered in bud dust / hairs. Great quality for the price.

Delicious flavors, but you really need to brew it long and hot to draw them out. When you finally get there: cocoa-dusted prunes, black garden soil, salted caramel coffee, walnut brownies, and musty stone cellar.

Silky and creamy, super mouthcoating. The real star is the leaf aroma of raisinettes, leather jacket, Riesen candies (dark chocolate and caramel), and coffee grounds. Very good – all delicious notes – but there are shou puerhs with more generous flavor.

Savory, vegetal, salty, and buttery. Nice flavor but lacks sweetness and nuttiness we want in a Long Jing. Cooked asparagus, buttery mashed peas, club crackers, cinnamon powder. Some lightly sweet floral notes come out in later steeps. Cherryblossom. Light lingering cinnamon cracker. But lacking sweetness.

Nice flavors, but very light and delicate. Vanilla yogurt, dandelion, pear blossom, bee nectar, crab apple, canned peaches, fresh apricot. Just too light.

Powerful, delicious Dianhong. Big bouquet of vanilla poppyseed muffin, roses, mulch, plantfood, and sticky pipe tobacco. Strong flavor of dark, sweet tobacco, dark chocolate and chewy caramel (Reisen candies), and roses. Looong lingering vanilla sweetness, like poundcake. No bitterness or astringency at all. Excellent.

Vegetal and fruity. Starts with dried apple chips and nutmeg on the first steep, then opens into roasted parsnips and carrots, baked apple, persimmon, green pear, dried apricot, and some mint. More apricot and floral notes (flowering pear tree?) come out in later steeps. Clean and refreshing.