(I don’t know why I can’t get the image to attach)
Well, it appears I am the first to get to talk about this 2012 pre-chingming da hong pao!
This tea is a real eye opener to the significant differences that time of harvest can make with a tea. After my rinse, when the aroma of the wet leaf reached my nose, I had to run back and double-check the canister. I thought I had the wrong tea! “It smells like tiguanyin” I thought.
An amazing balance is present here between a floral, green oolong, and an amber, roasted one. It really is almost like a blend of da hong pao and tiguanyin. The result really is a “best of both worlds” flavor profile.