This was a singular tea that was highly unlike any other teas I've tried. Minimalist in aesthetic, I can see this one appealing to people who like delicate white teas, and it tasted more like a white tea than other black teas. It's not my favorite sort of tea, but I found it intriguing with every sip, and drinking it broadened my experience.

Dry leaf is beautiful and strange looking, twisted and loosely packed, takes up a lot of space for its weight, dark brown with silvery tips. The leaf is only lightly aromatic, with a subtle aroma that is mostly floral, and suggests sweetness. Smells fresh and clean.

Upon brewing produces a mysterious cup. The aroma is subtle but very different from most teas, it smells like tropical fruit (especially guava, but also with a hint of the muscatel quality typical for Darjeelings) and also is lightly floral.

I find this tea tastes best if brewed strongly. It is slow to infuse. I like to use more leaf than normal (about two teaspoons, which is less than two teaspoons normally is because the leaf is so loosely packed), and steep for at least 5 minutes. I can then get a second cup with a very long steep.

Steeping more strongly adds a pleasant astringency and a little bit of a bitter aftertaste that some people might not like, but it made the cup more aromatically complex. Brewing it more strongly also makes it remind me a bit of GABA oolong, especially the combination of the astringency with the guava notes in the aroma.

After steeping you can see how whole and intact the leaves are, they are short and stubby but a bit thick and tough, looking a bit like a Bai Hao / Oriental Beauty oolong from Taiwan.

Although I found it fascinating, I wasn't super crazy about this tea. The price is good for a tea of this caliber, but this particular tea just didn't suit my tastes. I'd recommend it to people who like lighter white teas, like silver needle.

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