I steeped just under one tablespoon of leaves with about 2 cups of 180F water for about 3 minutes. At first I was a bit worried because there was a lot of dust and the tea brewed up brownish green. I was expecting a bitter cup, but was pleasantly surprised by a very light tea. The smokiness of this tea is nothing like that of lapsang souchang. It sort of lingers at the back of your tongue and is really only noticeable if you really pay attention.
You may be able to tell from previous posts that I prefer vegetal, grassy green teas, whites with floral notes, or pungently flavored 'kick in the face' black teas. Gunpowder is not one of those. This just wasn't a tea that I enjoyed. I'd like to say that gunpowder is a pleasant hybrid of green and black flavors with a hint of smokiness, but it just tasted like cheap tea from a Chinese restaurant that was used to wash an ashtray.
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