I sampled Joseph Wesley's teas at the Philadelphia Coffee and Tea Festival, and they were exceptional. I've been excited to brew them up and give them more attention; this is the first I brewed, and it was outstanding.

Dry leaf is beautiful: fine, twisted, golden-orange leaf, and very aromatic: smells intensely like rye, with a hint of smoke, some mushroomy tones, not like button mushrooms but rather Chinese black mushrooms, and a hint of bitter chocolate. Very pleasing.

The brewed cup is even more aromatic, and smells strongly like hot chocolate, with a deep chocolate aroma and a hint of vanilla, suggesting sweetness. But upon sipping, the aroma develops more in the direction of woody notes. The flavor is surprisingly complex and rich, faintly savory, faintly bitter, and rather sour, with a hint of sweetness. Finish is surprisingly astringent, but in a very pleasant way.

Very easy to drink, but the sort of tea I want to drink slowly, both due to the astringency, and to enjoy the nuances of the aroma.

I brewed as recommended, 3 minutes with a teaspoon of leaf, and this produced very good results. I tried brewing a little more weakly and it was enjoyable, but I didn't like it as much. I think the brewing recommendations are spot-on.

I also was able to brew a second cup, remarkably different, with a cooler, fresher taste.

There was some aroma left in the leaves for a third cup, surprisingly aromatic, but I found it too thin for my tastes.

An excellent tea! I've only tried one other Bai lin gongfu tea before, the one from TeaVivre. That is also an excellent tea, but this was very different. This tea is edgier, and I think more interesting, and has a lot less of the sweet, bready quality that other tea had.

Pricey, but this is a top-notch artisan tea with the quality to back it up.

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