This tea is a private reserve tea from David Lee Hoffman’s Phoenix Collection. According to Chicago Tea Garden, it is comprised entirely of buds that have been pan fired in Fujian province. The dry leaves had a crisp, clean aroma. I brewed them in a gaiwan using four consecutive one minute steepings with 170 degree water. Once steeped the leaves plumped up really well, they appeared fresh and green as though they had just been picked. There were very few broken pieces visible. The resulting liquor was a pale yellow-green color. This tea was surprisingly mellow. The taste was unique in that it leaned more towards the sweet end of the spectrum than vegetal. There was some of the nutty flavor typical of dragonwell but it was more of an undertone. There was very little astringency here, even in the last steeping. There wasn’t a great reduction in strength between steepings either. Who wouldn’t love a green tea that just keeps on giving? I have been on a major green tea kick lately and this tea only served to feed the addiction. I would definitely recommend it. Chicago Tea Garden is a fairly new player in the huge field of tea vendors but I have to say that I’ve been really impressed by their offerings so far.