Attempting to backlog this one for the…fifth time? Somehow I write a note and it won’t save for several teas. It was probably the connection at my old house.
This is my favorite white tea to date and a baffling lesson in proper tea storage. Somehow I accidently order this online wile trying to look at the tin art in addition to purchasing it at two stores. One sample sealed up since processing, one sample from a bulk jar that saw many sudden breezes and one bizarrely stored sample. This one was in a small tin, purchased from a big sore with no bulk section, taken home and upon inspection- someone had already opened it. They opened it and shoved in the back for who knows how long. Ye-ah. Not nice.
Sample three looked beautiful, fluffy white pea pods with few fannings and smelled faintly like leaves and mushrooms. It steeped up four umami ladden cups of honeyd mushroom broth that gained citrus notes for the last cup. I drank this even when over steeped it was so amazing.
Sample two was largely fannings and a free apologee for not having many teas for a long time. It was almost black ans shriveled and had no aroma. The tea was slightly bitter and only a tinge of honey in the first steep. It was still better than a lot of teas even with that stale aftertaste!
Sample one was just like three, honey, straw, mushroom and refreshing. It makes me cry that Tao won’t have this for weeks at least. The little I have left must be hidden in a box out of sight to deter consumtion.
