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I was kind of disappointed with my first session of this tea. The first couple steeps were promising, as they gave a beautiful pale liquor with light grassy flavors, hinting at fruit on the finish. Unfortunately, that fruit flavor remained only in whispers, like it was buried and trying to get out. I’ll have to try something different on my next session to see if I can get more of the fruitiness to come out of the tea. Possibly ramp the steeping times up more quickly, as I kept them down around 10-15 sec. the first 5 or so infusions.

Nothing spectacular, but a good, easy-drinking black tea. Used water ~203 F as the bag recommends, and brewed in my 100mL gaiwan. There was some astringency, but not of the mouth-puckering variety, instead it was quite refreshing. The same way lemon water is slightly astringent, but refreshing. It did leave a bit of a dry feeling in the mouth a minute after you finish the cup. Finish was slightly sweet maltiness. I think next time I’ll try boiling water, which I usually use for black teas.

The dry aroma of this leaf surprised me – it smelled like salty crackers. The taste on the first couple steeps was definitely a hay-flavor, and left a lingering grassy taste in the mouth. The body was also appreciable, as it felt decently thick in the mouth. later steeps were of a lightly sweet hay flavor, with a diminished aftertaste. Brewed with water around 165 F as I’ve read online that this tea can get quite astringent at higher temperatures, though I might try to bump it up to 175 next time just to see if that lends the tea more complexity. An interesting first one for me from What-Cha :)

First impression from a gongfu session with 190 degree water is awesome! Very floral flavors, with a delightfully sweet finish. This sweetness remains in the mouth for a couple minutes after drinking the tea, and is accompanied by a grassy taste in the mid-late steepings. I wish I had more practice with tasting as it would be neat to be able to pick out the different floral notes in the tea, as were noted on Mountain Tea’s website. Good body to it, especially in steeps 2 and 3, with an alluring crispness.

Having a bit more success as I fiddle around with ratios. Tried using ~10g, but with my 100mL gaiwan, the leaves just didn’t have enough room and it was nasty. The best seems to be about 7g. Get some odd flavors off of it…kinda reminding me of leather, and some light smokiness. I don’t find the texture particularly enjoyable, as it leans more towards chalkiness. Some very brief sweet notes, only in the early steeps. Not awful, but a cheap tea which tastes like one. Oh, it was pretty nasty grandpa style too…smelled/tasted unfortunately a bit like woody sewage :/

Good stuff. Just finished the 2 oz of it I ordered, and for the last 5g, I decided to give it a whirl with boiling water/shorter steeps. As expected, more bitter than using 190 degree water like I was before, but I did not find this bitterness unpleasant. The tea had a bit more of a punch. Less sweet, and tasted the roast more. The first couple steeps had what seemed like a slightly buried fruit flavor – I tasted it more crisply with the cooler water.

Aroma of the leaves makes it very obvious these were roasted, as they smell of toasted grass to me. The wet leaves’ aroma reminds me in some way of popcorn, with their almost salty notes (maybe more caramel corn). The flavors are as advertised caramel sweetness with some floral undertones as well. Not only good gongfu style, but an awesome one for grandpa style on the go in a thermos. Just a few leaves at the bottom got me through a whole day :) A good one for a great price.

First few steeps have pretty heavy chocolatey flavor. I actually prefer to do a wash with this tea, as the first steep can be a little intense. There are floral undertones to the chocolate flavor which take the prominent position after about the 4th or 5th steeping. A pleasant (though threatens to be too intense in early steeps) astringency (not tannic) pervades through all but the last few steepings. I can get a solid 8 steepings out of this, and and 10 if I really feel like it.