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Meaty, metallic sheng with a nice buttery mouthfeel and smokey-sweet, citrus hui gan. There is a slightly wild bite at the end and an underlying asparagus flavor that gives depth. Subsequent steepages bring the bite to the forefront and develop a nice, mild sweetness all the way through. A perfect progression from the Dan Cong appetizer I started with today.

Very light, nectar-like flavor. Soft florals and an ever so subtle roast. The aroma from the gaiwan lid on the first short steep almost made me fall down. It was so pretty.

There is a very silky mouthfeel and delicate aftertaste. Honeysuckle flower hui gan. All in all, a very elegant and special tea.

This one comes camping with me so needless to say I trust it. It’s hearty enough to stand up to a nearby campfire and easy enough to contribute to the mood without being conspicuous in any way. Nice hints of wild Dan Con sweetness and spice on the back end and in the hui gan. A great introductory sheng beeng.

Trusty.

This one went fast. Woody, nutty, and sweet with a little bit of a wild, smoky edge. Mostly sweet on the back end. Nice.

Exquisite . . .

It’s tea like this that makes me want to drop the ratings of almost everything else but I do use the little smileys bar as an indicator. A smile is a smile.

However, there is definitely an echelon above the rest that exists and this belongs in it. I’m left wordless. Serious, serious tea.

Much depth, structure and a profound calming quality. The flavor just goes on for miles and the mouthfeel is rich and soft.

Earthy, austere. Mild tobacco, oak, and cinnamon bark. Not too sweet, not ashy. I like this one a lot. It’s rigid and structured yet pleasantly buoyant. Stiff walls embrace a jovial core.

Tastes like a good mood to me. Grave serenity that is not to be trifled with.

A calm, knowing smile.

Smells fantastic . . . bright, sweet and beautiful! Tastes like those strawberry n’ cream candies and not much else as I’m left with a combination of ho-hum grassy and candy flavor in my mouth. It’s just . . . shallow.

Unfortunately, that seems to be a trend with teas from this company; teas with amazing aroma and zero substance. Very in-your-face and one-dimensional.

I guess I would use this to wean somebody off of full blown flavored teas?

I find myself getting excited about puerh more so than any other tea now. It’s that same inner excitement I used to get as a kid when I would unwrap some new video game (the ones that rule your life) or like now when I get some new machine to make sounds with. Yay. The excitement is easier to hide with age but the inner working is still the same.

I have been particularly looking forward to trying this type of tea for a while and finally grabbed some while ordering a new gaiwan. I opened the package and smelled it when it came in but I didn’t cup it right away. The inner excitement built without me really noticing and proves further that good tea is a very simple, healthy pleasure. Simpler and much, much healthier than video games. Cheaper than music equipment. Amen to that.

The initial wet leaf smells like apricot fruit-leather and piss; bright, sweet and yeasty. Bear with me now. The color of the liquor is a deep, translucent goldenrod. An aroma of collard greens comes up in subsequent infusions and also provides depth to the taste of the liquor. This is by no means a bottom heavy tea, however, as there is much more going on in the mid to high range of flavor. Dandelion, butterscotch, canned green beans. Turkish kebab. Bergamot, cocktail bitters. What’s funny is that I am not doing this tea justice right now. I absolutely love it and just said it smells like piss. Cupped eccentricity. Do not let my descriptive deficiency fool you, this tea is delicious, easy to drink and more than the sum of the parts that I have given you to work with.

Let me also say that it is very energetically invigorating. Qi or no qi, call it what you will, there is a tangible effect that’s nice and admittedly a little off-putting. Electric floatyheadedness, tingling hands and slight perspiration go along with a vigorous heart-rate.

So, to recap: it smells like pee and gets you high. Book it.

I really don’t like giving bad reviews or low scores. It’s not something I enjoy. Unfortunately neither is this tea. It’s just not good. It wants to be but its not.

Please don’t consider this tea for everyday drinking. There is so much affordable TGY out there that is so much better. Again, I don’t enjoy slighting a company for any reason (and am completely unbiased) but please consider Life In Teacup’s Grade II over this stuff. It’s friggin $2.70 an oz. and way more suitable for everyday drinking. That is unless you would prefer mediocre tea every day.

I just had a pretty good mild cigar and this tea stands up to the taste that was very recently in my mouth while providing a seemingly perfect contrast. Instead of prolonging the experience with a roasted oolong, puerh or red tea I opted for a more cooling tea. The real cool part, however, is not the contrast but the compliment this tea adds with a savory bottom end and enough body to satisfy the palate. The bright grassy finish is exactly in order and adds the cooling element that really makes this feel like the next course in a well thought out meal.

Extra points tacked on because I can still taste the cigar.