My first Sheng, I don’t really feel like I know enough about them to rate this one. I drank a lot of shu pu-erh when I first gave up drinking coffee and I enjoy them quite a lot.
I brewed small amounts of my tea in a glass infuser mug. I kept the steeping times short, to around 60 seconds or so.
First impression: this reminds me of the Heritage Rougui I picked up at Red Blossom Tea Company. According to David’s notes this one has anxi oolong as a base. I am getting cedarwood, and spice with a slightly earthy and smoky flavor. A hint of smoke. My first two infusions were slightly bitter but I think my water was also too hot. I learned (also at Red Blossom) that if the water is too hot for you to drink it is also too hot for the tea.
Around the 3-4th infusion this is really hitting its’ stride for me, I used a lower water temperature and was now picking up more of the oolong base with some smoother chestnut notes.
The fifth infusion yielded some vegetal and honey flavors but I decided not to steep it again after #5.
This was a pretty fun tea drinking experience! Next time I will try it with less hot water from the very start.
