Short review:
Getting close to the end of my sample stash. This was a neat little oolong tea that honestly does not taste like regular tieguanyin at all.
This tea is quite savory and has a similar smoked wood/charcoal flavour as houjicha. Unlike houjicha, there is a bit of sweetness that can be gleamed from the tea. There is no bitterness, no matter if you do a short steep or a very long one (forgot one steep, was suppose to be 20s and ended up to be 5 minutes. Was completely fine though, not overbearing at all).
Strong sandalwood notes and I would say there’s a bit of vanilla or sugarcane sweetness in the back. This tea is a more woody, charcoal than compared to regular tieguanyin, which is floral instead. If we could say that tieguanyin is a sort of ‘light’ tea, this one’s a rather ‘dark’ tea. Decent tea overall, but too ‘rough’ to be taken as a light tea — requires the mood and time to truly enjoy it.
Flavors: Roasted, Sugarcane, Umami, Vanilla, Wood
