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This weekend (week… month…) has been insanity. Our old house is finally on the market and now the husband and I are on the hunt for a few pieces of furniture that we need for the new house. Today, that meant we hit about five different antique stores (added to the one yesterday and other ones last week.) It was decently successful – we managed to find one of the two of pieces we were looking for. And I found this tea! Not quite your normal antique store fare, but I’m pretty happy with it.

The smell of the dry leaf is lightly smoky. Not lapsang smoky, but Keemun-like smoky, which typically strikes me as more toasted than smoky. But no, here, I get smoky. Honestly, the smell pretty much guaranteed that I had to buy this.

The taste is quite lovely. This week has been a Keemun week for me (I’ve needed the comfort of my favorite tea with our current level of insanity) so the Keemun is super obvious to me. There’s also a bit of sweetness that reminds me of the sweetness in A&D’s Assam. But that sweetness is not something I normally pick out in Assams and, since H&S’s description says it is a blend of three Chinese teas, I’m going to say the sweetness is from the Panyang. It’s been sadly a long time since I’ve had a Panyang. Num. I don’t pick out too much Yunnan really, though I’m thinking that contributes to the thicker, cuddlier feel I get from this.

The second steep (3:00) is more Yunnan-ish. There’s a bit of stray/sweet hay note going on. But the Panyang is also more obvious (probably the most obvious) with the smooth, almost silky, sweetness. The Keemun is not near as obvious this steep as the first. I think it just gives a bit of richness and some earthier back notes.

Long story short: delicious. I’m happy with both of my antique store purchases today!