I tend to like Mao Jian teas a lot, and I still liked this one, but it was my least favorite example of it that I've tried. It was unexpectedly smooth but lacked edge or bite, and I think this bite is one of the things that I most appreciate about this type of tea.

Dry leaf is wiry and curved, very dark green. Quite aromatic, the aroma is initially dusty and heavy but beneath this is a sweet, almost bready aroma. I was curious to try this; I couldn't tell much about how it was going to taste just by smelling the leaf.

The brewed cup is skunky and...dank. You know when people smoke very potent weed that has that sort of illicit, dirty herbal smell? It smells a lot like that. The flavor is exceptionally smooth, almost too smooth, there's almost no astringency, yet it still comes across as being a bit heavy.

I find I enjoy this tea more as it cools. I enjoy the smoothness more, and the metallic quality diminishes as the cup cools, and also the aroma feels gentler. Resteeps pretty well, but the second cup suffers from the same deficiency in flavor as the first.

Overall, still enjoyable, and I suspect this may be a tea that others would appreciate more than me as I know smoothness is often a desirable quality, I just wished this tea had more edge and found it unsatisfying for this reason. I thought this tea was overpriced. Harney has marked it down from $52 to $39 a pound, but I *still* think it's overpriced; there are many less expensive green teas, both from Harney and other companies, that I'd prefer to this one.

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