I found this solid. As others have noted, it reminded me of a very nice breakfast-style black tea with plenty of body and flavor, but not much variety or interest.
Western (4g/250ml, 95 C)
Dry leaf is sweet & malty, but otherwise “normal” black tea aroma. Appearance of leaves worries me a bit – smaller/broken pieces of leaf, kind of chewed up. Aroma of wet leaves a bit more brisk, a little Raisin Bran, but faint. First steep 3 min – dark red liquor, pleasant sweet aroma. Flavor is good, fairly balanced, enough bitterness for brisk finish, could definitely stand up to milk. Overall pretty one-note. Second steep 5 min – wet leaves are more earthy now, with aromatic woodsiness – close to cedar, though not quite that strong. Tastes about the same, but maybe a bit more tannin, a bit less smooth, but not unpleasant. Third steep 7 min – maybe a touch of cocoa powder, otherwise about same. Final/fourth steep at boiling – no real change, just a little weaker.
Cold brew (1g/100ml) is solid, if unexceptional – good body (not too thin), balanced flavors of a little sweet, a little malty, a little bitter, but none stands out or overpowers. Faint whiffs of coffee & cocoa powder. Pleasant, lightly sweet aftertaste.
I’m wary of trying gongfu with the broken leaf of this tea, but I’ll update if I decide to give it a go.
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This is one of those teas that seems to be hit or miss for a lot of people. I loved it, but then again, I am a huge fan of malty, woodsy black teas like this and enjoy a lot of the higher end Vietnamese teas in general. I also think this is one that you have to gongfu in order to fully appreciate. If you insist on brewing it Western, I found that a longer initial infusion (like 4-5 minutes) was the way to go.
Good to know, thanks! It was only a 10g sample, so I have just enough left for one more preparation. I’ll probably give gongfu a chance, then.
This is one of those teas that seems to be hit or miss for a lot of people. I loved it, but then again, I am a huge fan of malty, woodsy black teas like this and enjoy a lot of the higher end Vietnamese teas in general. I also think this is one that you have to gongfu in order to fully appreciate. If you insist on brewing it Western, I found that a longer initial infusion (like 4-5 minutes) was the way to go.
Good to know, thanks! It was only a 10g sample, so I have just enough left for one more preparation. I’ll probably give gongfu a chance, then.