Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong Spring 2

Wet leaves in gaiwan smell roasty and a bit salty to me. The liquor itself is dark and doesn’t have a very strong scent. I’m not getting much of a smoked scent or taste, but I wasn’t really expecting to.

I screwed up and let the second steep go way too long. Just tastes burnt. I have just a bit left of this little sample, so I will be more careful with the next session so as not to screw it up.

I found this tea clearly superior to the other version of it from the Tea Club. On this one I get fruity aromas and flavors, along with maltiness. I think there’s a bit of smoke in here, especially on the early steeps. Usually smoky flavor is a turn-off for me, but in this tea I felt it added to the depth and layers of the flavor. My first session with this, I ended up with very small leaf fragments (bottom of the sample bag I guess), and the first brew was almost overpowering. Even with larger leaf pieces, the first steep of this tea is quite strong. I think that’s another positive difference from the #1. Possibly an indicator of higher leaf quality. Of course it’s possible I’m completely wrong and just don’t have a very developed palate for black tea. While I am a wee bit bitter about the fact that the W2T Club has been primarily black tea the past three months, I will at least say that the ones I’ve had so far are nice to drink. That being said, bring on the pu, Paul!