91

I have had a few “wow” moments with this tea, which is always a welcome surprise. “Wow” anything is nice, of course, but tea doesn’t often engender that response from me. More like “mmmm” most of the time if it’s good.

The first wow was inhaling the fragrance of the initial steep: it was like stepping outside on an early spring day… thinking about it (“what is that familiar fragrance?”) I realized it’s lilac. Your first whiff of lilac in the spring. Actually fooled me for a second into feeling like I’m not locked into winter here on the east coast. Then as I drank it it was just like honeysuckle, one of my all-time favorite scent experiences. This continued in subsequent steeps. I’m not too fond of any floral tastes or scents in tea, but this tea’s front floral personality coupled with its butteriness just kept making me smile with enjoyment.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 30 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

People who liked this

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Strong preference for exploring teas au naturel, and unflavored (except for unprocessed ingredients, e.g., cocoa shells/nibs, vanilla beans, flowers, fruits…). Favorites lean in the direction of rich caramelly, malty blacks, any puerh, fresh floral oolongs and whites that have some dimension.

I am always up for swaps.

Beyond the experience of tea, I’m interested in exploring its medicinal aspects. Other interests … yoga, creative veggie cooking, environmental issues, animal welfare, music/guitar, lefty politics, preventive health/nutrition, biking, swimming, foosball, photography.

Here’s how I rate ’em:

95+: euphoria-inducing, le petite mort
91-94: extraordinary, exhilarating
85-90: delicious
81-84: definitely enjoyable
75-80: good, solid stuff
65-74: I’ll drink it, but without enthusiasm
45-64: something redeeming about it, but not much
31-44: just barely drinkable
< 30: tidy stream into the spit bucket

Location

Metro DC

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer