This tea smells great, but the flavor is weak. The aroma is both earthy and sweet. The flavor, though, is a pale shadow of the aroma. The first time I bought a box of this tea, I assumed that it had to be stale because of improper packing or storing. A second box was the same.

The tea isn't bitter or astringent at all. There's a nice tannic leafiness and an underlying sweetness that's more like sugar or honey than the typical black tea maltiness. Unfortunately, much of the complexity is hidden until the tea is almost cold. Equally unfortunate is that this is one of the only Chinese black teas (blended or otherwise) available on a grocery store shelf.

While this tea does exhibit the mellow smoothness that one can expect from Chinese black teas, it's definitely worth the extra effort to track down better tea in a tea shop, Asian grocery store or online.

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