I enjoyed this tea, and thought it very high-quality, but it was too smooth or mellow for my tastes, and I was never able to get a sufficiently strong cup out of it. Its flavor profile was similar to bai hao oolong (with a different aroma), and I find that tea too smooth for me.

Dry leaf consists almost exclusively of very fine, furry orange tips. Aroma is mostly of caraway.

Produces a relatively light-colored and clear cup with a very mild flavor, and an aroma suggestive of cocoa and vanilla. Faintly malty, but unsweetened cocoa is the dominant quality.

I found this tea difficult to brew to my satisfaction. Surprisingly, the aroma was milder (and less interesting) with boiling water than with water in about the 180-190F range, as recommended. With the lower water temperature, I found some fruity and caramel tones came out that were absent in the cup brewed with boiling water. This cup was almost reminiscent of bai hao oolong. However, the lower water temperature diminished the flavor--this cup had an almost syrupy mouthfeel and I didn't enjoy it as much.

In spite of me not liking this tea as much as some of the other high-quality Chinese black teas, I found it stood up extraordinarily well to making multiple infusions.

The second infusion had more tones of cocoa or chocolate. The subtlety of the aroma was diminished after brewing two cups, but I was able to produce a third cup that had a fairly rich texture and pleasing flavor. The leaves did not even seem fully spent then, but I did not resteep them more than 3 times because I didn't enjoy this tea as much.

Although this is a pricey tea, the fact that it does so well with brewing multiple infusions makes it a better deal. But I still don't enjoy it as much as a number of other teas, including several black teas from TeaVivre that are considerably cheaper.

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