125 gram Xiaguan FT Flame Raw - 2007

Oh my goodness!

My order arrived today from Mandala, I was so excited I was practically stalking the Mailman! :)

After I opened my box of goodies, this was the thing I was most excited to try. I love the box it comes in and even the paper wrapper! I might need to get another one for aging. Garret- let me know if you are running low, heh!

Anyway after a quick rinse I did a slight taste and was impressed but it was the 2nd steep that made me really happy. I totally agree with Kwinter on the excellence and good value of this. You get a smoky element, at the same time it is vegetal and somewhat sweet with a eucalyptus like flavor. I am very glad I got one of these!

3rd steep – for about 30 seconds. This flavor is so interesting, the sweetness is coming up a bit more and has a bit of a smoky licorice essence. I quite like that…

More to come…

Aroma of steeping tea: The aroma reminded me of camping in the great outdoors. It was very smokey with lots of woodsy smells reminding me of damp moss, citronella and sandalwood. At this point I’m very excited, this is exactly the type of thing I was looking for.

Taste: The smokiness is the dominant flavor, but there are a lot of other things going on. I get hints of tangy lemon, crisp mint and eucalyptus and a very pleasing bittersweet nature. This tea has a very thick and full mouthfeel, there is a lot of substance to it. Throughout the course of steepings the flavors have seemed to stay mostly the same, just becoming a little more muted with each steep…but that doesn’t mean the tea becomes boring. There is more going on in this tea than I can really even name. This is a truly exciting tea (not to mention the level of energy its giving me is unbelievable, don’t drink this one too late at night!).

All in all, I’m very much enjoying this one and I’m happy with my purchase. This one was a bargain.