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I picked up a few extra 2016 teas from YS when they had their sale until there’s enough of the 2017 teas in. I couldn’t resist this one. It looked really different.

In the picture on YS’s website the dry leaves look a very dark dark green. However, to me they look almost black. It’s hard viewing them from the bag so when I took them out and held them up to the light, they still looked black. I never had a green tea before that had black leaves.

I brewed this one gongfu today. I don’t often use gongfu for greens but it adds a bit more oomph to older 2016 teas.

After the first infusion , the leaves are still black. Did I get the same tea that YS has up on their website? My tea leaves certainly don’t look green at ALL. It brews up a bit golden with a grey overcast. Here, I was a bit hesitant to try this. It’s looking like an oolong or black with the colour of the tea. So I took a sip and it was a surprise. Very mild, a bit roasted. It looks like an oolong but not quite like an oolong in taste (although there are similarities). There’s another element to it that I can’t describe. YS describes it as having a umami flavour. I used 5 g and brewed it 30s at 80C.

2nd infusion – 20 sec (chose less because it appeared to be brewing stronger), 90C
I chose a higher temperature because those leaves looked like they could handle it. It definitely brewed up stronger than the first cup and this time getting more of the purple/grey colour of the tea. Also noticed the brewed leaves are starting to show a hint of green coming through. The higher temperature brings out more of the roasted flavour with a bit more sweetness too. This tea has a bit of kick to it too.

YS describes this tea as “Dan Cong meets Yunnan Assamica Green Tea”. It definitely does taste something like a Dan Cong.

Not your typical green, that’s for sure.