One of the last samples from AprTea that I have to review. This one came marked as “Tieguanyin Deep Charcoal baking Caramel aroma Grade one”, but clearly it’s not that – the leaves are green. Comparing to the offerings on the website, I figured it should be the Zhengchao Tie Guan Yin, but it’s not 100% certain of course, I could only go by the description and photos on the website.
The dry leaf aroma is fairly strong with a little bit of a roast to it. This persist even after the rinse, it reminds me of a fresh Dong Ding smell. It’s quite thick and sweet, but not really complex. Underneath the roast, I can pick up some floral scents, but very subdued.
The infusions present a medium bodied, coating and smooth liquor. It tastes very light and balanced overall. The roast is definitely present in the taste too, although slightly less so. I noted almost no bitterness or astringency, although the aftertaste is slightly drying. Again, the taste is floral and a bit sour, but quite flat. It lacks the complexity. It could be that the roast is hiding some of it and a bit of aging would help, but I doubt it. The roast is actually really weak, it’s just that the tea characteristics are even weaker. The aftertaste has very little of roastiness in fact and it’s good and lasting. It has mostly floral and overripe fruit (something like papaya) qualities.
In the end, definitely not an unpleasant tea to drink, it has decent mouthfeel and if you like light floral tea with some roast on it, you may like it. However, don’t expect anything too sophisticated.
Flavors: Ash, Cut Grass, Floral, Roasted, Sour, Tree Fruit
