Ying Hong No. 9

From Daylon R Thomas!  Thanks very much!  The first time I steeped this, I expected it to be light and tame, used two teaspoons and WOWZAs was that too much.  Too astringent. I should have read Daylon’s notes before steeping it up!  (I tend to not do that though, so my flavor notes aren’t influenced by the power of suggestion…) So I vowed to try it again with one teaspoon and here we are. MUCH better.  The leaves are so big, hints of gold, nutty scent almost? Could be the cashews I had.  I didn’t expect it to be so rich, with such huge leaves.  The flavor in the first steep is wonderful and just dark and deep enough:  Plummy, fruity, a combo of sweet strawberry, fig.  But then a spice to it, a kick. Sweet like a pastry, cinnamon roll maybe.  I mean, the flavor notes seem so light and sweet but it’s a STRONG tea at the same time. But then I’m wondering if it’s contaminated from the tea in the infuser before. Very drying to the mouth.  The second steep it’s like impossibly, beyond dark maple syrup which sets my teeth abuzzin.  Syrupy both in flavor and mouthfeel.  Quite astringent even with a tame steep.  It’s quite unique.  Like a stronger Premium Taiwanese Assam.  Note to self: ONE TEASPOON.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min

Album: Bettye Lavette – LaVette
Song: Don’t Get Me Started https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n04sbZXctjA

I tried again, shortening the time and…it’s still malty and bitter. I got heavy cocoa nibs in profile with a little bit more complexity, but that’s pretty much it. The malt was hitting me more. I’d be curious to see someone else’s opinion of this tea. It’s too dense for my preferences, and I didn’t rebrew it past steep 2. I still have a lot of it on hand, and I really want to get rid of it. Maybe I can cream and sugar this bad boy up to see if it works better that way.