Complex and powerful with a strong but relaxing energy. The leaves, nice large assamica, me thinks, flaked off the section of the xiao bing I received with great ease. In dried form, they give off a pleasant sweet mint. After the first rinse, the aroma reveals a multiplicity of textures, sensations, and flavors to come.
The qi here is great from the start that intensifies with each steep. Good mouthfeel and returning sweetness that lingers. Big flavors here—tropical fruits, forest moss, mint, peppercorns, cloves, leather, sweet hay, and Chinese traditional medicine, with steeps 5 – 7 bringing of the leather, sweet hay, TCM, and forest moss to the fore. Nice cooling and peppery/tingly sensations going on after steep 5 or 6.
For a 2015 tea, this one seems to show quite a bit of mid-aged flavors…or perhaps I am just more sensitive to them.
