I keep coming back to this tea. It definitely isn’t a bad tea, its just so DIFFERENT from all the others I usually drink. I’ve had ‘bad’ tea and I can really drink it more than two or three times. I’m starting to think this tea had the same impact my first few Puerhs had with me. My brain just said ’can’t identify’ and I rejected it.
I keep drinking it, the first steep is the strongest one, Smoky/broth-like soup with the faintest hint of sweetness but the body is incredibly savory and so is the aftertaste (I think this is what caught me by surprise).
The second steep is less smoky but still present, the sweetness is slightly more appreciable before it turns savory and broth-like as it washes down. The aftertaste has a strong savory base with hints of sweetness. The savory notes linger in the mouth and back of the throat.
The third steep is savory and brothy up front and allows a sweetness to take over for a moment. As it washes down the ‘cycle’ repeats itself but this time the sweetness lasts much longer. While the sweetness comes up front the savory doesn’t disappear it takes the background and at least to me seems to serve as a base for he sweetness, making it that much more enjoyable.
Final Notes
I made 6 steeps with this tea, up to the 5th the tea continued to get sweeter but it still kept its savory and smoky character, after that it was weak. I’m not a fan of Lapsang Souchong but that might be slowly changing. I still enjoy past the second steeps the most but I’m starting to enjoy that brothy/smoky/meaty ones. Maybe is the cold weather and smokiness give me ‘warmth’.
