5g, 7ml gaiwan. 98C, 15s rinse.
98C, 10s: Liquid got pretty dark right away. Mildly cooling smell. Standard ripe smells, but maybe some floweriness. Great, chunky mouthfeel. Leaves are still clumped.
98C, 15s: Leaves totally opened up. Still cooling, honey/flowery smell. Some “sour” bitterness, like coffee. Pretty darn dark.
98C, 20s: nice dancing lid during the brew. middle of the road ripe taste in every category.
98C, 25s: definitely some rotten fish. nothing else to be said. most of the other tastes have already deteriorated.
98C, 35s: definitely, definitely rotten fish. I own enough tea that it’s not really worth finishing this one.
..
Some energizing qi was definitely there. I guess there’s still some caffeine in this one!
If you’re looking for a middle of the road tea, maybe. But my girlfriend later commented that the tea smelled of rotten fish a whole steeping before I tasted it. If those notes are still around after seven years of aging, I have some trouble recommending this tea. Maybe other years productions were cleaner?
Flavors: Fishy
