Imperial Concubine's Smile

Over the course of a number of years I have pretty much tried every possible tea there is, some cheap yet surprisingly nice, others obscenely expensive that failed to deliver. This is one of the only teas that I can say actually is worth the near astronomical price. Not wishing to offend any black tea fans ( i myself am one) but to just think of this as another black tea is frankly an insult to the brew, it's a different beast altogether. Before I attempt to describe the flavour of this tea I shall first write how i brewed, so as to give context. I am quite atypical in the tea world for my hatred of clay teapots, once the gasps have subsided i shall tell you why! Would you feel insulted as a chef if the kitchen staff served your food on dirty plates other punters had used? I know i would be. One reason alot of people use clay pots for tea (especially oolongs) is that over time they retain flavour, IMO this is an insult as you are not tasting the work that has gone into the specific tea you are tasting. rant over. I typically make tea weaker than alot of others, my usual rule of thumb is to add one teaspoon to my wonderful and clean Jing gong-fu glass pot (the small one person one) I ALWAYS use spring water, no exception. Our tap water has too much chlorine and mineral water flavours the tea too much. Highland Spring is my go to. I boil up my HS add about 30ml to the tea and pot, swirl around and pour down the sink (yes it does break my heart pouring the smile away, but this rule is worth following!) i then fill pot and wait for 3 mins. the timing i use for infusions is 1, 3min 2. 3 min 3. 3 1/2 min 4. 4 1/2 min 5. 6 min 6. 11 or more By 6th brew the colour is still rich but the flavour is more or less departed, still IMO this tea is second only to Puerh in its resteep ability. Taste I'm finding this one hard to quantify, it is very sweet and rich but at the same time has some complex notes that i just cant quite describe. I wouldn't entirely agree with Jing that they are floral notes, at least not to my tongue. There is a certain taste in the tea which is truly magical, it tastes slightly smokey, not in anyway like Lapsang Souchong (a tea i'm sorry to say I hate with a passion) An easier quality to judge with this tea is the quality of the leaves. I would have to give it 100% on technical elements, it is without doubt IMVHAHO the finest tea leaf produced, knocking previous holder hand made gyokoru from Uji into second. I'll end as i started this review by discussing the price. This is the one tea where i say to myself, how can i afford this tea? How can i square it off in the old funding department. For me its a strictly high days and holy days tea and i have already bought 3 packs for storage. Like any review a taste is worth a thousand words. I do recommend trying this tea, if for no other reason just so you can try a tea which has clearly been made with complete dedication and skill.