A free sample. Thank you AprTea! Also, it was my first yellow tea ever, so some of my observations could be not tea-specific but rather a result of my first yellow tea encounter.
This tea had one of the most alluring and strong dry leaf aromas I encountered so far: full of guava, melon, honey and pomegranate. The appearance was also impressive – the main photograph used in the tea’s Steepster account describes it well.
I prepared it both gong fu and Western style at 175 degrees, and the short gong fu steeps were decidedly better. It has a very creamy mouthfeel, with the honey, herbs, spice, spinach, and tropical fruit flavors. A bit of nuttiness as well. Overall, it is a very cheerful tea that put a smile on my face. Western style felt a bit thin,and longer or second/third gaiwan steeps brought forward some green tea-like bitterness and grass. And I personally find this generic slightly oversteeped green tea profile not so interesting.
All-in-all, a good tea that requires some attention in preparation and high leaf-to-water ratio. I will probably need to try more yellow teas to better evaluate its relative value in class.
Flavors: Creamy, Grass, Guava, Melon, Nuts, Spicy, Spinach
