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This was one of my sipdowns from either the second half of July or the first half of August. Looking back over my session notes, I kind of feel that I may have been a bit hard on this tea, but honestly, some of the criticisms I outlined still feel kind of valid. Specifically, I found this to be a bland, forgettable tea, and prior to looking back over my notes, that’s what I remembered it as being. All I could specifically recall was that I thought it would be more robustly flavorful and that nothing about it really stood out to me.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of honey, baked bread, dark chocolate, and cinnamon that were underscored by subtle hints of straw. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of geranium, raisin, prune, and roasted almond. The first infusion brought out aromas of vanilla and violet. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of honey, baked bread, raisin, and straw that were backed by hints of geranium, horehound, roasted almond, prune, and butter. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of brown sugar, butter, cream, grass, oats, green olive, and orange zest. Notes of dark chocolate and vanilla came out in the mouth alongside stronger and more immediately apparent notes of roasted almond, prune, and butter as well as hints of cinnamon and violet. I also picked up on impressions of minerals, cream, brown sugar, oats, grass, orange zest, caramelized banana, wood, and earth. There were even some very subtle hints of green olive, apricot, and malt that were just barely detectable in the aftertaste. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, earth, butter, brown sugar, and baked bread that were complimented by hints of honey, oats, raisin, grass, wood, and roasted almond. There was also a slightly enhanced maltiness present at this point, though it was far from a dominant feature.

I’m still not sure about this tea. It contained a lot of elements that I would not expect to work all that well together, yet nothing about it stands out in my mind. I mostly just recall the liquor being a muddled rush of very muted, timid flavor components that peaked quickly and faded even quicker. At this point, all I can say is that this did not strike me as being all that good of a tea. They can’t all be winners. I’ll just leave it at that.

I’m going to take a little time to try to make more progress on my backlog. I think I finished what I had of this tea in either June or July. Yeah, I’m that far behind right now. I I found this to be a very likable second flush Darjeeling black tea, one that was subtler than many other teas of its type.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not rinse the leaf material prior to infusion, and I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material produced aromas of straw, pine, raisin, autumn leaves, and prune that were underscored by a subtle smoke scent. After infusion, I noted the emergence of new aromas of Muscatel, toast, malt, cream, cinnamon, charcoal, and honey. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of honey, malt, cream, hay, straw, pine, toast, grass, sour cherry, earth, autumn leaves, tree bark, charcoal, smoke, cinnamon, fig, minerals, roasted almond, raisin, and prune that were complimented by hints of green bell pepper, orange blossom, and violet. The finish was as earthy, woody, toasty, and malty as I was expecting, though it was also notable because the raisin and prune notes I previously picked up unexpectedly transitioned into more vibrant, lively Muscatel and plum impressions.

This was not the most immediately impressive, attention-grabbing second flush Darjeeling black tea I have tried, but it was still a very respectable offering. I appreciated its mellow character and subtle complexities, and of course that sudden burst of fresh fruit on the finish was unique and memorable. Ultimately, I liked this tea quite a bit, though there are more elegant teas on the market. I would recommend this one for Darjeeling fans who are looking for a quirky, unique change of pace tea or who are looking to try an offering from a less heralded producer.

This was one of my sipdowns from August for which I have been needing to post a review. I’ve been polishing off some of the teas that I have had in storage at a steady rate and have unfortunately fallen behind on posting reviews. At this point, all I can really say to introduce my review of this tea is that it was one of the better teas I consumed last month. Actually, this was a very nice Yunnan black tea overall.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of honey, roasted almond, straw, pine, smoke, malt, and strawberry. After the rinse, I detected a new roasted peanut aroma. The first infusion brought out scents of sugarcane and orange zest. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of honey, cream, pine, malt, orange zest, roasted almond, and strawberry that were backed by hints of smoke, roasted peanut, sugarcane, and straw. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of black currant, violet, blackberry, blueberry, Asian pear, lemon zest, butter, and dark chocolate. Notes of minerals, black cherry, blackberry, black currant, butter, plum, violet, blueberry, Asian pear, dark chocolate, and lemon zest appeared in the mouth alongside stronger and more immediately apparent impressions of straw and smoke and hints of earth, red apple, and baked bread. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, cream, butter, roasted almond, orange zest, lemon zest, and malt notes that were complimented by hints of pine, plum, Asian pear, red apple, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, sugarcane, and roasted peanut.

This was an incredibly fun, vibrant black tea that was very approachable and easy to drink despite its respectable depth and complexity. A lot of Yunnan black teas can go heavy on the herbal, woody, creamy, buttery, bready, nutty, and malty notes, but this one was full of rich, sweet fruity impressions that set it apart from many of the other Yunnan black teas I have encountered. Fans of sweeter, fruitier teas would probably really dig this one. Heck, I enjoyed it tremendously and I’m not even all that huge on sweeter teas.

Alright, I’m getting around to reviewing this tea earlier than planned. I usually wait until I have finished what I have of any given tea before editing and organizing my session notes and then posting a review at some point afterwards. Well, I am not doing that with this tea. I think I have around 5 or 6 grams left in my 50 gram pouch that I plan on polishing off later in the evening. I have a pretty good grasp on what this tea has to offer right now, though, so I am going ahead and posting a review here. I think everyone knows that I love Yunnan black teas, but I can actually be pretty picky about them. I tend to look for lots of aromas, lots of flavors, and clearly defined texture, and if something seems out of whack or too timid, then I can get pretty critical. I can’t do that with this tea though. There just really wasn’t much for me to criticize about it.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of chocolate, baked bread, smoke, pine, sugarcane, molasses, malt, and sweet potato. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, marshmallow, honey, banana, and caramel as well as subtle scents of eucalyptus. The first infusion saw the emergence of stronger eucalyptus aromas as well as the emergence of a buttery scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of chocolate, baked bread, honey, malt, sugarcane, pine, and smoke that were balanced by hints of molasses, butter, and eucalyptus. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of vanilla, fennel, roasted walnut, black pepper, sweet cherry, and orange zest. Marshmallow, roasted almond, sweet potato, and caramel notes appeared in the mouth alongside stronger molasses and eucalyptus impressions and hints of banana. New notes of minerals, cream, vanilla, fennel, black pepper, roasted walnut, nutmeg, ginger, orange zest, sweet cherry, and cooked green beans also appeared along with subtle hints of roasted chestnut and earth. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, malt, baked bread, roasted almond, chocolate, marshmallow, caramel, and sweet potato that were chased by hints of butter, vanilla, orange zest, molasses, honey, sugarcane, black pepper, ginger, roasted chestnut, fennel, pine, and eucalyptus.

This was an incredibly complex tea with wonderful body and texture in the mouth. If I have one complaint about it, it is that some of my favorite aromas and flavors faded slightly sooner than I would have liked. That is really nitpicking though. This was a great Yunnan black tea, and it did not seem to have lost any vigor in storage. If you have yet to try any of Yunnan Sourcing’s Gold Needle black teas, you really ought to do so at some point in the near future.

Okay, I’m finally back on Steepster after quite a long layoff. I always despise taking breaks from reviewing because getting back into the swing of writing reviews is so awkward for me after any time away from it. Unfortunately, my work schedule has been crazy the past few weeks, and even when I do get some free time, I am rarely alone in the house, so I end up dealing with lots of noise and interruptions. Believe it or not, I’m posting this review from my actual office. My grandmother and parents are home today, so getting any peace was out of the question, but everybody cleared out of work early, so I came back to the office to write in peace.

Anyway, this ended up striking me as a very enjoyable, high quality Assam black tea. I have not been drinking many teas like this lately, mostly because I am so familiar with what they tend to offer, but this one was not predictable or boring. As a matter of fact, it struck me as being fruitier and more floral than many of the other Assam black teas I have tried.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. I did not rinse the leaf material prior to steeping, and I also did not conduct any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of malt, tobacco, straw, cedar, and sweet potato. After infusion, I noted new aromas of raisin, cream, roasted almond, and toast as well as a stronger malt aroma. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, raisin, cream, straw, toast, butter, leather, roasted almond, cocoa, sweet potato, cedar, orange zest, earth, and caramel that were balanced by hints of orchid, rose, black cherry, brown sugar, raspberry, strawberry, and tobacco. The finish was smooth, creamy, toasty, woody, and malty, though I did note some lingering fruity and floral hints in the aftertaste.

This was a very pleasant, nicely balanced Assam black tea with just enough depth and complexity to satisfy me. It also struck me as being lacking in any harsh bitterness or astringency. Overall, this was a very nice tea that I could see working on its own or with additives. I am fairly certain that fans of Assam black teas would be pleased with it.

This was my next-to-last August sipdown. It was also a tea I expected to like a little more than I did. Understand that I’m not saying that I found it to be subpar in any way; I’m just such a huge fan of Feng Qing black teas that I expected this one to leave a greater impression. As it turned out, I found this to be a very good tea, but I also found it to be a little underpowered compared to some of the other Feng Qing offerings I have tried over the past couple of years.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 19 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry buds emitted aromas of chocolate, malt, cream, cedar, and brown sugar. After the rinse, I picked up new aromas of roasted almond, raisin, and banana that were underscored by subtle smoke and eucalyptus scents. The first infusion introduced aromas of vanilla, butter, and baked bread. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, cream, raisin, and chocolate that were chased by roasted almond, butter, brown sugar, vanilla, honey, and cedar hints. The subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of honey, camphor, maple syrup, marshmallow, roasted pecan, praline, earth, black pepper, and lemon zest as well as subtle scents of tomato. Much stronger and more immediately noticeable impressions of roasted almond, vanilla, butter, honey, brown sugar, and baked bread appeared in the mouth. I also picked up new impressions of maple syrup, praline, roasted pecan, pear, plum, banana, tomato, minerals, lemon zest, orange zest, earth, and marshmallow. There were even some subtle hints of cinnamon, black pepper, eucalyptus, smoke, and camphor that could be detected. As the tea faded, the liquor settled and emphasized notes of minerals, earth, baked bread, chocolate, lemon zest, orange zest, and roasted almond that were balanced by a melange of roasted pecan, marshmallow, vanilla, brown sugar, tomato, honey, butter, camphor, and eucalyptus hints.

This was a nice tea, one that struck me as being reserved and refined but also perhaps a bit stuffy. It had a ton to offer, but rather than laying everything out in a straightforward fashion, it made me work to get definite impressions out of it. It would definitely not be the sort of tea I would choose to consume on a regular basis, though I would most certainly be willing to try some of the productions from the more recent harvests because I’m still not certain I was able to get the best feel for what this tea had to offer.

Here is a review from the backlog. I can’t remember precisely when I finished what I had of this tea. I want to say the sipdown came either during the second half of July or the first half of August. I recall liking this tea more than either of the previous reviewers. My notes indicated that I appreciated its complexity and depth but felt that it had a few noticeable rough edges.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of roasted barley, toasted rice, vanilla, cream, butter, and baked bread as well as a subtle orchid scent. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of cinnamon, steamed milk, brown sugar, and honey that were accompanied by a subtle chocolate scent. The first infusion introduced aromas of roasted almond, caramelized banana, bamboo, and grass. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of roasted barley, toasted rice, honey, cream, butter, bamboo, vanilla, and orchid that were chased by hints of cinnamon, grass, baked bread, brown sugar, roasted almond, toasted sweet corn, and steamed milk. There were also lingering vegetal notes in the aftertaste that struck me as being reminiscent of cattail shoots and spinach. The subsequent infusions produced new aromas of parsley, spinach, cucumber, umami, apple, and white grape that were accompanied by a slightly stronger chocolate scent. Chocolate and caramelized banana notes appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of sweet potato, caramel, wood, minerals, daylily, daylily shoots, apple, pear, white grape, cucumber, and meaty, brothy umami. I also detected some hints of parsley and noted stronger, more forward impressions of baked bread, grass, steamed milk, and roasted almond. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, wood, baked bread, toasted rice, cattail shoots, spinach, grass, roasted barley, umami, and cream that were backed by hints of vanilla, butter, roasted almond, cucumber, and apple.

This tea had a lot to offer, but there were also times when certain notes overpowered and distracted from others. It also displayed a very dry, woody mouthfeel and was very heavy-bodied. Compared to some of the other Dong Ding oolongs I have tried, it was not the smoothest, and it was also not the most approachable or the most drinkable, but it was still a quality tea. I would not recommend that those curious about Dong Ding oolongs or those looking for a quality daily drinker go right for this one, but when something stronger and heartier is called for, this would be the oolong to choose.

Hey all, before I start this review, I’d like to share a major life update. I know some of you are aware that I have been waffling on going back to school, and well, I think I have finally decided to do it. I’ve spent a considerable amount of my time trying to figure out what I really want out of my professional life, and I finally came to the conclusion that a very public-oriented career was not going to be for me because I’m just not a people person. I have pretty serious anxiety issues, so something more stressful was also out of the question. I knew I needed something quiet that offered a tremendous amount of autonomy and alone time, so I have decided to become a librarian. There is a rather highly regarded graduate program in Library and Information Sciences at the University of Kentucky, which is just two hours west of where I’m living now, and since applications for the spring semester are being accepted until mid-November, I decided to go ahead and apply for it. I am in no financial shape to do this, but I also don’t have any real debts and no serious financial obligations, so I am at a point in my life where I can afford to start over from scratch. I figure I can also spend a semester going part-time and then move and work on acquiring funding over the summer when more assistantships become available. This field seems like a perfect fit for me because a good deal of my academic and professional background involves information management. I also think my background in composition and teaching will help me stand out a little from the crowd.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, let’s move on to talking about this tea. This tea represented a step into uncharted territory for me as I had never tried a Taiwanese white tea prior to trying this one. The best way for me to describe it would be almost like a Bai Mudan or Shou Mei but with the minty characteristics of a Red Jade black tea. I found it enjoyable, though I also felt that it was a bit rough in places and packed a caffeine wallop that was a bit much. Essentially, I would have to be in the mood for this sort of profile in order to approach another tea like this one.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing, I steeped 6 grams of loose leaf material in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of malt, sweet potato, baked bread, wintergreen, and honey. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of butter and peppermint as well as a stronger wintergreen presence. The first infusion brought out subtle scents of vanilla, cream, and grass. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, cream, grass, butter, and wintergreen that were chased by hints of baked bread, honey, vanilla, and sweet potato. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of brown sugar, autumn leaves, hay, earth, and celery as well as subtler scents of grape leaves, spinach, and green olives. I also detected slightly amplified cream and grass aromas. Notes of brown sugar, earth, hay, minerals, wood, coffee, and autumn leaves appeared in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging peppermint notes, hints of butterscotch, and slightly stronger and more immediately noticeable baked bread and honey impressions. Impressions of green olive, celery, spinach, and grape leaf appeared as well. They were subtle at first but grew slightly stronger with each infusion until the tea started to fade. As the tea faded, the liquor settled and emphasized notes of minerals, malt, grass, hay, wood, grape leaf, butter, celery, and earth that were underscored by hints of wintergreen, sweet potato, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and spinach.

This was a very odd white tea. Its caffeine punch was reminiscent of a Red Jade black tea, and its aroma and flavor profiles were very bizarre. Still, its aroma and flavor components managed to work together better than expected. Though certain aroma and flavor components could be prickly or poorly integrated here and there, everything worked together for the most part. The mouthfeel of the tea liquor could also be a little rough in places. These are fairly minor quibbles, however, as I still consider this to be a high quality tea. Overall, it was enjoyable. There were just a few noticeable issues here and there that held it back in my eyes.

This was my most recent sipdown as I finished what I had of this tea earlier in the afternoon. You know it’s funny that the opportunity to try this tea and some other Ceylonese offerings came along when it did because I’d been getting steadily more curious about Ceylonese tea over the course of the year, and then Lasith at teakruthi came along and offered the opportunity to try some free samples in exchange for Steepster reviews. Naturally, I jumped at this opportunity. I was going to be setting aside some money to purchase some new Ceylonese teas in the fall months, but I figured if I could get some free Ceylonese tea instead, then I may as well do that and use the money I was going to be setting aside to make a few other tea purchases instead. More tea, especially more free tea, is never a bad thing, and quite frankly, I’d been getting a bit bored of Chinese black teas and needed something new and exciting to keep me going during the season’s long, grueling work days. This tea certainly fit the bill.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 3 minutes. I did not rinse the leaf material prior to steeping, but I did follow up the aforementioned 3 minute infusion with a 5 minute infusion and a 7 minute infusion.

Prior to the first infusion, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of honey, malt, pine, straw, orange zest, and chocolate. I noted new aromas of cream, steamed milk, and toast afterwards. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of pine, straw, toast, cream, honey, malt, orange zest, chocolate, caramel, prune, steamed milk, and roasted almond that were accompanied by faint hints of apricot and slightly stronger hints of beeswax, minerals, earth, and leather. Each swallow yielded menthol, black pepper, and tobacco notes that imparted a combination of prickly and cooling sensations on the tongue and back of the throat. I could also pick up the expected coppery tang that seems to be so common to Kandy black teas.

The second infusion saw the tea’s bouquet greatly soften. Roasted almond scents emerged alongside stronger aromas of cream, malt, and steamed milk. A slightly amplified earthiness came out in the mouth alongside stronger notes of malt, steamed milk, roasted almond, and cream. New notes of sweet potato emerged, and I also was still able to discern some lingering honey and caramel notes as well as slightly muted black pepper, menthol, and tobacco impressions after each swallow. Interestingly, I picked up far less of a coppery note in the liquor, though I could still make it out to a limited extent.

The third and final infusion saw the liquor lose virtually all of its bouquet. On the palate, the liquor was soft and subtly malty and creamy. The previously subtle minerality was greatly amplified at this point, and much of the liquor’s other notes had either completely disappeared or were so muted as to be just barely perceptible at most times.

This tea was a pleasant surprise for me. It was deeper and more complex than I was expecting, and it also displayed more longevity than I’m used to getting out of many Ceylonese black teas. I could easily tell that this was a Kandy black tea due to it frequently emphasizing body and texture over individual flavor components and the fact that it displayed that unmistakable coppery note. This being a flowery fannings grade tea, I was not expecting much, but this tea delivered on all fronts. Though I would have liked to see greater separation between some of the flavor components at several points, this was still an incredibly likable offering that would probably be especially enjoyable for drinkers who look for a good deal of body and texture in their brews but who also appreciate strong aromas and flavors. Essentially what I’m getting at here is this struck me as a very well-rounded Ceylonese black tea that had a bit of everything to offer. It would be well worth a try for those who are looking for a great value black tea suitable for afternoon consumption.

This was another of my sipdowns from earlier in the month. I had been meaning to get around to drinking this tea for a couple of months, but I first got on a big black tea kick and then moved on to Wuyi oolongs before finally breaking this tea out to change things up and prevent myself from falling into a rut. It had been way too long since I had reviewed a Dancong oolong anyway. Unfortunately, this tea reminded me that Xing Ren Xiang is not always one of my favorite types of Dancong oolong. I sometimes find them to be a little too gritty and/or soapy in the mouth, and I also sometimes find them to be a little boring. Both criticisms applied to this tea, but honestly, it was not bad overall.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of roasted almond, cream, custard, and orchid as well as some indistinct citrus and pineapple aromas. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of orange blossom, geranium, vanilla, nutmeg, and grass as well as stronger and clearer pineapple scents. The first infusion introduced aromas of tangerine, peach, and steamed milk. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of roasted almond, cream, orchid, steamed milk, grass, tangerine, and orange blossom that were chased by hints of peach, geranium, butter, wood, and nutmeg. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of wood, rose, pear, plum, sugarcane, butter, and honey. Slightly stronger and more immediately noticeable impressions of geranium, wood, and butter appeared in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging notes of custard and vanilla and hints of pineapple. I also picked up on notes of cucumber, rose, plum, roasted chestnut, roasted hazelnut, pear, sugarcane, and honey. The previously noted peach hints gradually grew a little stronger on each finish, and I also thought I caught some hints of violet here and there. As the tea settled, the liquor turned grittier and more astringent, offering notes of minerals, wood, roasted almond, steamed milk, grass, and butter that were backed by hints of pear, plum, sugarcane, vanilla, and roasted chestnut.

This tea offered some interesting aromas and flavors, but it also flattened out relatively quickly and turned a bit grittier and more astringent than I had hoped it would. At its peak, it was a nice Dancong oolong, but I quickly grew restless with it and found myself ready to move on to something else. Overall, it was a pretty decent tea, but it struck me as being flawed. I have had better and more memorable teas of this type.