Wuyi

Strong, smokey, earthy, and the lick of an ash tray.

Slight floral aroma mixed with the smell of charcoal. It had a bit of bitterness with a strong charcoal roast flavor. The aftertaste is reminiscent of chocolate.

Da Hong Pao smelled sweeter than it tasted. When I had it, it was very bitter, and it’s one of those teas where if you like it you’ll like it or if you don’t you don’t. I did end up trying multiple cups of it because each cup tasted different each time. Towards the end when I had my 4th cup it started tasting sweet, but not enough to make me want to drink it again.

I didn’t think I’d like this, because it smelled so strongly of charcoal, but I did enjoy it. I tried the 2nd/3rd brew.

Brewed Strong it has a very strong smokey flavor with a very bitter after taste. Brewed weaker its has more floral accents of orchid with a smokey wood flavor. It also has very little bitter after taste that fades quickly.

20g tea (suggested 7g / 85ml)
yixing

newly whittled stick
roasted (chest?)nut (barley? millet?)

summer on a northern coast:
forest giving way to cliff, overlooking dried seaweed on warm rocks and strewn through warm sand

qi is upward, a little much like a big, overexcited, jumpy puppy