This is the 2015 harvest.
Prepared with gongfu sessions, with a ceramic gaiwan. No rinse. I first followed the website steeping times (20, 15, 30, 45, 75), but I prefer winging them.
I appreciate the dry leaf aroma most after letting the leaves sit in a heated gaiwan. First there were sweet potatoes (very sweet and without the skin, like they were mashed – a first for Chinese sweet potato teas with me), and then spices such as clove and black cardamon.
I was a little sad to make the first infusion. These leaves are pretty (I admit – the picture on the website partially contributed to the purchase. Sucker for good pics.). Cute little curly things, gold and black intertwining on each leaf. Well, now they’re simply brown. That’s alright. A black pepper aroma arises. After another infusion or two, the wet leaf releases raw hot cocoa. Gaiwans are good for these snails.
The liquor color is a beautiful orange-gold. I recommend drinking this from a white cup. Full-bodied, smooth, thick. Sweet with a touch of bitterness from a sweet potato flavor, which appears throughout the session. I pretty much only discern sweet potato, with the exception of some chocolate and wet wood in the aftertaste. Overall, this has a warming and cozy effect, simultaneously energizing. It helps me put up with the cold (although, winter is unbelievably mild this year – still).
Eh, sweet potato. I’m not that much into it and Chinese black teas with this note. I still much like this one.
