88

I’ve been intrigued by yabao, so I was really happy to get a great deal on this as my first opportunity to try it.

The dry leaf is pale, uniform buds, with a faintly peppery smell.

99C, 7g, 100ml. Rinse, 10s, 15s, 10s, 15s.

The steeped leaves smell very strongly of pine, must and drying wood. It’s an intensely outdoorsy smell that reminds me of the Canadian shield.

The liquor is very pale yellow – there’s almost no colour to it. It smells both musty and peppery, like old books. The flavour is really interesting. Very light, sweet, with a slightly sour note that I find in some white teas. There’s mustiness, earth and some of that pepper spiciness, that lingers into the finish, after the sweetness goes.

Second steep has a stronger pine & wood flavour. The sweetness and sour note are toned down, as is the mustiness. Still nice and spicy.

Third steep was a bit more mild than I was hoping for, though it build as I sipped. Toward the very end, a peachy or maybe apricot note made a brief appearance in amongst the pine.

I want to keep drinking this, but sadly, I’m getting some wicked heartburn. Hopefully not from the tea, as it’s delicious, but I think I need to stop either way. Boo!

Flavors: Apricot, Earth, Musty, Peach, Pepper, Pine, Sour, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
The Finest Brew Co.

The last sentence at midway got my heart raising! Glad you enjoyed

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The Finest Brew Co.

The last sentence at midway got my heart raising! Glad you enjoyed

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Bio

I grew up drinking jasmine green tea with meals, but really fell in love with tea on a trip to Britain in elementary school. My first great love was Earl Grey, and I still adore it and all its variants.

I discovered the beauty of loose leaf tea much later, when, on impulse, I picked up a few teas that were on clearance at a home store. My introduction to loose leaf teas were Masala Chai and Provence Rooibos by the Metropolitan Tea Co and an unknown brand of kukicha and gyokuro (little did I know what a precious treasure I’d stumbled onto with that.)

At the time I was lucky to live in a place with multiple tea shops and several places to have afternoon tea, which is a delight I still miss.

Tea is part of my daily ritual and a nice, affordable way to appease the collector in me.

I enjoy distinctive whites, greens and oolongs, flavoured blacks, and herbals that are heavy on the citrus, lavender or mint.

Rating rubric, to give myself some consistency:
0-15 Yuck, not even drinkable.
16-30 Disappointing, not really inclined to give it a second try.
31-45 Disappointing, but maybe there’s potential? Worth one more try, prepped differently.
46-60 Mediocre, not terrible but not memorable.
61-75 Not bad. I’ll definitely finish what I have and might buy again.
76-90 Very enjoyable. Tasty, complex, it’ll keep me coming back.
91-100 BEST! I love everything about it and I will drink it forever.

Beyond tea, I’m a sex educator, polyamory activist, and radical queer. I love backwoods camping, abstract painting, baking & cooking, nail polish, cats, ceramic sculpture, and home nesting.

Location

Winnipeg, MB, Canada

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