Highly reminiscent of a Laoshan black. Same woody undertones and slightly chocolatey weaving throughout. But it has a bit of a deeper earthy base with mineralistic tones. Yes, I just made that word up. Ah… which apparently is also a mom-pop shop near me. Go figure. AS you steep longer squash skin notes take over. The mouthfeel is soft with just a slight touch of abrasion. Like you were almost going to lick a rock and you caught someone staring at you. This is not a milk/sugar black, it is a gongfu black. Though doing it western style is fine too, it benefits more from gong fu. The dry leaf smells faintly of rich dark chocolate mixed with dry white wine and earthy tones. Tightly twisted. Hairs on the packages. Yay for trichomes!
“Like you were almost going to lick a rock and you caught someone staring at you.” I felt that in my bones.
And then you yell over to them “Don’t mind me. Just expanding my palate!”
:)