I decided to try this in my gaiwan again with a lower temperature to see if I could get anything interesting from longer infusions. The result was interesting: unsweetened cocoa, malt, and grains with a stronger pine and smoke aroma. There’s only a hint of Keemun tang here. The longer steeps are thick, sticking to my throat in a way that makes me think of very dark chocolate. Now that the leaves have opened up completely, I realize I used a lot more leaves than I did the first couple times, so that probably has something to do with the drastic difference compared to what I’ve been tasting.
Shortening the brewing time to about 15 seconds, I was expecting to say it’s back to the usual tangy fruit and red wine, but it’s not. Apparently that comes out at higher temperatures. Lacking the smokiness of the longer brews, pine is the most obvious note in the aroma. The flavor is sweeter and lighter. There’s a fruity note I’m having trouble identifying, but it’s not tangy, and I’m not getting anything wine-like out of this.
Back up to boiling. I’m tasting some of the tang and spice of the first few times I brewed this, but it’s behind a very strong milk chocolate flavor. After this the flavor started fading and the mouthfeel thinned, so long infusions became necessary rather than experimental. I know what I want to try next time, at least: lots of leaves, boiling water, long steeps. And suddenly the taste of tropical fruit and caramel fills my mouth. Cheap black tea with a strong hui gan? That’s a first for me.
