Today I tried the spring harvest of this tea using short steeps and boiling water, covering the bottom of my 150ml Gaiwan with leaves. My timings were 15,20,40,65,100,120s.
This is the spring harvest of this tea and I am not sure whether the differences I found in flavour are the result of using different techniques or a different season.
I found that this time the cocoa notes were intensified over my previous tasting. The fruit notes found were longan and blackcurrant. Cashew butter and cream notes were also present. The caramel notes were present but not as distinct and I did not find the grainy notes of the last steeping. I’ll have to try my longer steeps and lower temperatures to do a true comparison with the previous season, but I did really enjoy it this way.
Seasons definitely affect the teas. I like doing side-by-side comparison for some teas and sometimes from different years if I have them. Great note!