I believe this tea came to me as a free sample from Norbu — at least I don’t remember buying this. At first when I saw it I thought it was some kind of a roasted oolong, but after reading Norbu’s notes I see it’s actually baked in the sun, which is pretty neat.
Steep #1: In the gaiwan for about 20 seconds, my tea liquor is a medium orangish-brown. I am getting a bit of citrus, for me orange. It has a medium sort of bitter-sweetness, and is earthy with some fruit in the finish.
Steep #2: Also for 20 seconds. Oddly enough this tea reminds me of a darjeeling. It has a similar color palette and some similarities in flavor. This steep is a bit sweeter than the first but still has a tiny bit of palette cleansing astringency. I am getting orange still but now a woody element seems to be entering the scene.
This tea is nice but I’m not compelled to drink any more of it. Definitely not going to be a favorite but it comes with quite an interesting story.
