My experience with this tea may differ somewhat, because I have stopped trying to be so meticulous with my verdant teas and started brewing them the way tea was brewed in my childhood — Russian style. Throw an approximate amount of tea into a warm teapot, pour in some boiling water, wait an approximate amount of time, and dilute with boiling water if necessary to obtain an approximately preferable concentration. I know some people would cringe if I told them this. But you know what? Good tea is still good tea. It’s just less fuss this way…
I find myself reaching for the Yu Lu Yan Cha when I’m in a particular sort of mood. When the Golden Fleece would be too light, too perfect, and the Zhu Rong somehow doesn’t seem right. It’s like the Zhu Rong, or my favorite ceylon (strange as that might be?), but it strikes me as having something darker, deeper, murkier to it… it makes me think of a swamp, or a wet redwood forest…
(I’m being a little too rambly and poetic, but that’s because it’s five in the morning…)
