Similar to the 2021 Xiaguan “Gold Ribbon” tuo cha I’m currently drinking, but a lot smoother. Because I brew western style, these 8-gram dragon balls are a treat for me, brewing up a bit heavier and more syrup-like than I am used to. I typically use 5 grams if tea for my 16-ounce glass, and now I am using 8 grams instead with this tea. I couldn’t bring myself to break up the beautiful pearls of tea, which come individually wrapped with little twist-ties.
I guess with this particular blend, you are receiving the “luck of the draw,” as there are many high-quality mao cha samples potentially included here, but they will not be uniformly blended. So I suppose one dragon ball may taste somewhat different from another. In my experience, the three dragon balls I’ve sampled have tasted more or less the same.
This was mellow brew overall, with nice woody notes and some cinammon/fennel spice in the background and hints of florals and fruit. There is a touch of smoke, but I wouldn’t consider smoke to be a major contributor to the overall flavor profile here. An enjoyable and amazingly smooth blend of raw pu-erh. At $3.25 per pearl, I’m not sure I would continue buying these, as I can find teas I enjoy more for less. But I’m glad I sampled and it was a good experience to help me understand the world of raw pu-erhs better.
I do very much enjoy the dragon ball concept, and will probably keep exploring these. The convenience of the individual-serving dragon balls makes much more sense to me than having to break up awkward cakes of tea. It would be nice to find more dragon balls available in my preferred 5-gram dosage, though, but I guess you can’t have everything.
