I tasted a lot of fermentation flavor in the first four steeps, which cleared completely by steep six. The fermentation on this one is very clean with no “off” smells or tastes. Spicy, woody and sweet were the dominant notes, with the sweetness landing between dark fruits and caramel for me. There were no bitter notes after the fermentation cleared.

I rode this session all the way down to thin brown water over 12 steeps just to see what subtleties the leaf held. It got sweeter and spicier as the session went on. The first nine steeps were the best. I picked up some mild astringency in steeps 10 and 11, but strangely it disappeared in steep 12.

The leaves were mostly broken, but larger than gong ting. As expected this tea is not quite as powerful as a gong ting, but it’s not too far behind. The leaf quality as expressed in the cup was very good to excellent, making this a cake I’ll stash in the “Florida pumidor” for two or three years and revisit with the expectation of it becoming something great.

Flavors: Caramel, Spices, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 8 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
boychik

I found it has creamy mouthfeel. I like this shou a lot

TeaExplorer

IIRC, @boychik, you steep shu with a higher leaf to water ratio (1g/10ml). I will try this to see what the differences are.

SilasSteep

I had this one tonight as well….I only used about 5-6 grams and it was a bit thinner and steeped out quickly. I tend to use more along the 6-8gram range per 100ml…I do think more leaf to water is the way to go. I’ll have to try 10:100 ratio as well. Does it get bitter? This tea is gonna get even better. I like it now tho as well.

Kalinka

Can’t wait to taste this after it gets some age on it. Exciting !

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Comments

boychik

I found it has creamy mouthfeel. I like this shou a lot

TeaExplorer

IIRC, @boychik, you steep shu with a higher leaf to water ratio (1g/10ml). I will try this to see what the differences are.

SilasSteep

I had this one tonight as well….I only used about 5-6 grams and it was a bit thinner and steeped out quickly. I tend to use more along the 6-8gram range per 100ml…I do think more leaf to water is the way to go. I’ll have to try 10:100 ratio as well. Does it get bitter? This tea is gonna get even better. I like it now tho as well.

Kalinka

Can’t wait to taste this after it gets some age on it. Exciting !

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Profile

Bio

Joined December 2013
Updated February 2016

Latest News: I brought my cupboard up to date (woot!)

Fond of Puerh (raw and ripe), Yunnan Blacks, Oolongs. Occasionally drink Assam, Darjeeling, Keemun. Not a fan of any flavored teas.

Doing limited swaps once again, but please try to not overwhelm me!

On Instagram as TeaExplorer. Only pictures of tea-related things, perhaps occasional cats and interesting outdoor shots. No food pix, I promise! I want to use the pictures to supplement my reviews here on Steepster.

My profile pic is of a cat we fostered a few years ago. She is an undercover spy (codename: Tessa). You’d feel eyes on the back of your neck, turn around, and she’s be hidden somewhere up high, looking down at you. She’s now gathering intel on her new family.

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