Free sample from Teavivre. This is the last of the free samples I received a couple of months ago, which brings me up to date with the freebies and means I can now focus on all the teas I have bought in the meantime! :)
The dry leaf is a mix of green, brown and silver leaves. It looks like a good proportion of those lovely furry silver tips that make such good white teas. The dry leaf aroma is green and tobacco. Yes, I know that green is not technically an aroma, but that’s what it smells like, so there. Once steeped the leaves appear quite chopped. I suspect this may be a function of the process of removing a sample from a beeng, because others have noted how the leaves appear whole. They also have a vegetal, spinach aroma.
The liquor is a mid yellow colour and carries a light smoke and delicate earthiness along with a smidge of the tobacco. These notes increase with subsequent steeps. The sweetness and creaminess of the liquor remain constant throughout. There is a slight astringency that emerges in the aftertaste. The aftertaste endures nicely with a hint of menthol cooling the tongue.
More noticeable than the flavours is the cha qi which immediately struck me in the knees. I could feel my legs relaxing the second I sipped the first cup. I can also feel a serious tea drunk coming on! This tea is good now and that leaves me hoping for good things in the future once it has aged.
N.B. Teavivre recommend a 100 degree (212 degree) steeping temperature. I steeped it at 90 degrees. I worry that using boiling water will kill some of the notes I found in it.
Flavors: Cream, Smoke, Spinach, Sweet, Tobacco, Vegetal
This sounds excellent.
I enjoyed it a lot. For a young tea it had a lot of promise.