I get the wild peppery taste and the tobacco. It’s not bitter but there is a distinct mineral-y tang to it as it steeps for longer periods (And wow, does it get dark when you let it go for more than about 3 minutes! It’s almost black!). The scent is lightly smoky and heavily malty, especially when dry.
I don’t get any subtle notes from this. It’s fine but I have had other Dian Hongs that I prefer. This was part of a group order though and it was super nice of them to include bags for the tea we were splitting so that each of us would have a labeled bag and instructions! So high marks to the company, even if this particular tea is not my favorite. :)
And I think the instructions as printed are somewhat off. The English translation may not be quite right. 6 grams is not the same as 4 teaspoons. I think that 5 grams = 1 teaspoon. The instructions say 6 grams (4 teaspoons) to 1/2 liter of water. That would be either 4 teaspoons per 16 ounces (which is pretty close to how I would normally steep my teas) or 1 teaspoon per 16 ounces (which would be very light for me), depending on which is correct. :) So I may not have hit the recommended parameters. I used 1 teaspoon for 6 ounces. Maybe I overpowered the more delicate notes by overleafing.
I did this by little glass teapot method. :) 30 seconds, 60 seconds, much more seconds. :) Overall, I preferred the 60 sec steep to the others. 30 was far too light and more than a minute was too strong for me.
