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I found a lot more to love in this tea a couple weeks later… new note added!

This review is for the spring 2021 harvest/roast. I have tried this tea, both gong fu and in a brewer, and I am just not getting much more than a rather ascerbic charcoal in any steep. It tastes, to me, like there is a hole in the middle of the flavor profile, where I should be finding fruits or vegetables or earth… but I just keep getting sharp charcoal around the edges and nothing much in the middle, through every steep. If it weren’t labeled “light roasted,” I’d wonder if this batch was burnt and too far gone. I do trust what “tea palate” I have, though this one is making me doubt myself! I’ll finish out my 25g bag and see if there’s anything more to find, but I don’t think I’ll re-order.

Alistair included a sample of this with my first order from What-Cha. I steeped that sample in a traditional brewer, and was absolutely delighted with the taste of a sweet popcorn ball, dancing alongside a toasty vegetal oolong. Holy moly.

I (immediately) (obviously) ordered more of this heady stuff, and my gong fu steeps yielded some really interesting flavors. Rather than that big sweet popcorn ball busting through, the first nose I got from the first steep took me right back to some toasted green chili pepper seeds from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Not spicy — roasty, vegetal, and extremely savory and complex. Further steeps uncovered buttered toast, rice, and the lovely vegetal flavors of the oolong. That sweet popcorn ball that I was anticipating waited until later steeps (4-5) to peek out.

I can’t wait to keep drinking this tea, in both brewing styles. It’s absolutely delightful and I know there’s so much more to find. Highly, highly recommend.