This tea tasted a lot like an un-aged sheng pu-erh, but a softer one suitable for immediate consumption. This was my second tea sampled in my adventure into Assam green teas, thanks to the abundant small samples TEAORB sent me.

Dark, crinkly leaf smells heavy, but there's a faint light note suggesting sweetness, and a hint of camphor. The aroma is odd and leads me to expect a tea with a very bold, somewhat alien flavor, perhaps because it reminds me of un-aged raw Pu-erh teas that are very strong.

Upon brewing, I was surprised at how mellow this tea was. The first green Assam I tried from TEAORB, from Kamata estate, was far too strong for me when I brewed it as recommended, but this one I actually liked when brewed this way. It produced a thick, full-bodied cup that had a bold but somewhat muted flavor. It strong in a deep sort of way, not too edgy. When I used too little leaf, this tea was a bit bland and watery. If steeped too strong, the first cup gets a bit astringent.

I had the best results when using slightly less leaf than recommended, and upping the water temperature a bit, but overall I found this tea easy to brew and tasting pretty consistent, just getting a little stronger or weaker.

I was always able to brew two cups, and I found I actually preferred the second cup, because I could let it steep a long time and the first steep seemed to take the edge off. The second cup reminded me a lot of aged Pu-erhs.

I liked how I felt after drinking this tea too. It doesn't feel very caffeinated, and I found it relaxing, the sort of thing good to drink in the late afternoon after I am done working.

The price seems very good on this tea; I liked it better than the Kamata tea, and it was about half the price. Again, this is not a tea I would want to drink every day but it was interesting and I would especially recommend trying this one to people who enjoy drinking sheng Pu-erh.

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