The first time I tried this tea from a sample, I was smitten. I remember it being so soft and smooth with a sweet fruity, and wine-like flavor. Since reordering, my opinion has shifted. It still tastes very much like that sample, but it seems less full and flatter to me now. It's probably me and not the tea.
Upton doesn't give any information about the origins of this tea, but they do mention that it has "the character of a non-smoky Keemun." I think that's a fair way to describe it, but actually it reminds me a bit more of a south Fujian red tea. So while this is not necessarily a Fujian red, it's close enough that I'm reviewing it with the bona fide ones.
The dry leaf consists of small rolled OP pieces with a generous amount of light tips. The dry-leaf aroma is similar to Upton's Wuyi Golden Monkey, but just a bit sweeter and less roasted. The liquor brews up medium red, and gives off a fairly generous and pleasantly soft aroma featuring sweet cherry berry, with a bit of wine, some fresh bright tobacco, and a light toasty note. In the mouth, the tea is very soft and gentle, with wine and berry flavors. It's almost impossible to make this tea astringent, and that's a good thing as you'll need a very generous amount of leaf for it to shine. The berry flavors continue into a fairly soft and moderately persistent aftertaste that finishes with a wine-like tang.
This tea is soft with very little spine. It could be a good fit for those who like bud teas, or for those who like a soft, fruity, and sweet tea, but it will definitely come across as flat to those who are accustomed to the backbone and briskness of a Ceylon or Kenyan tea.
As mentioned above, this tea really needs a bit more leaf than you might think to get a good mouth feel and generous flavor. I've found that I use about 40% more leaf with this tea than I do with many other teas, but, when I do so, I get a rewarding cup.
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