Today, I’m comparing the classic and imperial versions of this tea. Yunnan Sourcing doesn’t give any brewing instructions and Verdant’s three-second steeps seem way too short, so I started at 15 seconds.
The aroma in the bag is dark chocolate, toasted grain, and char. The chocolate seems milkier in the first couple steeps, with a nice sweet aftertaste. I was also surprised by how smoky this tea was. Since the body was thin, I upped the third steep to 20 seconds, which, though it did nothing for the body, intensified the chocolate. I coaxed six additional steeps out of this before it lost its flavour, the last two of which had caramel notes that I liked.
I’ll have no problem finishing this tea, especially as it’s almost fall, but I think there are probably better Laoshan blacks out there.
Flavors: Caramel, Char, Chocolate, Grain, Roasted
