This is very good Da Wu Ye, with a complex mouthfeel and great evolution of flavors across the full session. Whether you brew this up gongfu or Western-style, you can expect a delicious experience all-around. I was a bit surprised by this one because of how much it changes over the course of a focused gongfu session. To me, Tea Hong’s Black Leaf Special opens up with some sweet florals and juicy fruity notes, somewhere in the realm of apple blossoms and caramelized peaches or sun-dried figs dusted with cacao powder. Within a couple of steeps, these notes melt away and reveal a body that consists of honey-soaked malt and fresh-pressed apple juice. Towards the end of the session, the apple juice flavor becomes significantly thicker, and the malty texture picks up some rye-like notes which carries with it a kind of spice that is reminiscent of cloves or cinnamon. The mouthfeel is incredibly smooth, and although the flavor profile seems a bit thin in comparison, that’s okay because the texture is fantastic and the aftertaste lingers on the palate for a long time. It’s subtle-yet-overt at the same time. Really beautiful dynamic and a great balancing act between flavors and sensations. Although this one is easy to brew up and easy to enjoy, you should still take your time with it because this is a very good representation of the Da Wu Ye cultivar, one that can show you the full spectrum of flavors possible to achieve when high-quality material meets high-quality processing techniques. I particularly enjoy brewing this one up Western-style, with a leaf to water ratio of 1g to 100mL – a long steep, with hot water, and using a vessel with excellent heat retention, really opens up the depth of flavors that Black Leaf Special has to offer and affords a kind of creaminess that becomes more apparent. Although this creaminess is felt in a gong-fu session, it’s thinner and more spread out across each steeping, whereas when done Western-style, it concentrates in the soup and makes for a beautiful and easy-going experience.
