Finally I have decided to gongfu this tea and it suits another sipdown prompt — A tea that is hard to pronounce or spell, however I have 10 grams left… but I will try my best to finish this tea from SkySamurai during January.
I have used 7 grams for my 125 ml gaiwan. Dry leaf aroma is hard to notice for me, but after rinse, the leaves have aroma of tobacco, red fruits and little floral of herbs to me.
1st steep I decided to make 15 seconds long, and delivers woody — oak maybe, notes. There is a little of the herbal notes, a bit hoppy aftertaste, but as well quite drying and sadly I do not notice “a spicy, full-bodied oolong tea” as their website statement.
2nd steep was 20 seconds long; aroma changes a bit — it’s more tobacco, woody notes are stronger, but mouthfeel isn’t that good. It’s very drying and again, not spicy for me. Also, it is very short mouthfeel, it fades very quickly.
Note: I highly support estate support of local community, mentioned on the website. I hope it’s true.
As it cooled down a bit, it went a bit bitter, leaving unpleasant mouthfeel as well.
3rd steep, again 20 seconds. Woody notes faded, tobacco is stronger. Drying mouthfeel again, with bitter and a bit rough aftertaste.
4th steep, 30 seconds. While the wet leaves smell quite floral, it doesn’t transfer to liquor aroma at all. That’s tobacco with red fruits, as well flavours are similar. Shamefully, the drying mouthfeel makes my experience that unpleasant, I don’t want to drink it much fast and I have to force myself to drink it a bit. Studying about inflation, unemployment, transport economics… doesn’t help much.
5th steep, 45 seconds. If something surprised me with this teep, it was the colour of the brewed tea. It was very light and pale, like it was steeped for very short time. And sadly, it is present in taste as well, it was weak brew, finally with some spices… but very drying, though again it fades so quickly.
I made a several other steeps with better or worse qualites, but overall this tea haven’t impressed me. I am glad I have only 10 grams left and I can finish it fairly quickly.
