Here’s my first foray into the abyss of a tea gift box Kawaii433 sent. Thank you!
I brewed 5g in a 100mL gaiwan with 205F water for 10 steeps at 10/15/20/25/30/40/50/60/75/90s.
The dry leaf was loose in the bag and very dark with a burgundy tinge. It smelled warm with a note of campfire smoke. Rinsing brought out a spicy note along with cherry wood, osmanthus and butter. The first steep started off smokey, a little bitter on the sip. Fruity flavors of apricot and berries presented in the back of the mouth along with osmanthus and a stronger bitterness. The first few steeps had an astringency in the throat. The liquor left aftertastes of apricot and a light concord grape. As the steeps progressed, the tea became more bitter, the kind of bitterness that might make one cringe. The dominant taste/aftertaste was a generic citric or malic acid tartness which was strongest in the back of the mouth along with a hint of smoke and some wood. The bitterness maintained until the end, at which point some butter came forward.
Overall, the tea early on had those fruity flavors I’ve gotten in purple-leaf teas before but those tastes faded pretty quickly. Most of the activity happened on the swallow, not a whole lot going on upfront. The tea lacked depth, body and any sweetness and the bitterness I could see turning off a lot of people. It’s also full of energy — I had a really difficult time falling asleep despite drinking this tea in the afternoon. Tread lightly with this one.
Flavors: Apricot, Bitter, Butter, Campfire, Cherry Wood, Grapes, Osmanthus, Spicy, Tart
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Yay for tea gifts! ❤
So many kind people here :) Best online community I’ve come across since 2004.
“I had a really difficult time falling asleep despite drinking this tea in the afternoon.” Oh good, thought it was just me. It pepped me up and I remember staying up till like 4am after that. o.O
Derk: When I try this again, I’ll try it at your infusion times. I stopped way early at 37s maybe that’s why I never got to the bitterness…
Yeah, some purple-leaf teas do weird things to me energy-wise. It expressed as restless legs last night which I never get. And I had even taken some codeine cough syrup earlier which put me out within an hour of taking it the night before.
I’m surprised you didn’t find this bitter at all! It was penetrating for me, like a bitter pill stuck in the throat.
That’s what others wrote too so I looked at your infusion time vs mine and I stopped way early, at 37seconds lol.
:( concerning restless legs… I’m sorry that happened to you!
I had it early I believe and I usually go to sleep like 2am and I think I stayed up all night. I remember because it’s the only note I ever wrote that it “pepped me up”. Wow…
I hope you update when you try it again. I’m curious what a much lower temp would do, too.
It was bitter from the first steep for me, which I usually like but it was lacking other qualities to back it up. The tastes and aftertastes early on, though, were really nice.
Will do. :)
An abyss of a tea box. Love it! Haven’t had one of those in a while :)
Yay for tea gifts! ❤
So many kind people here :) Best online community I’ve come across since 2004.
“I had a really difficult time falling asleep despite drinking this tea in the afternoon.” Oh good, thought it was just me. It pepped me up and I remember staying up till like 4am after that. o.O
Derk: When I try this again, I’ll try it at your infusion times. I stopped way early at 37s maybe that’s why I never got to the bitterness…
Yeah, some purple-leaf teas do weird things to me energy-wise. It expressed as restless legs last night which I never get. And I had even taken some codeine cough syrup earlier which put me out within an hour of taking it the night before.
I’m surprised you didn’t find this bitter at all! It was penetrating for me, like a bitter pill stuck in the throat.
That’s what others wrote too so I looked at your infusion time vs mine and I stopped way early, at 37seconds lol.
:( concerning restless legs… I’m sorry that happened to you!
I had it early I believe and I usually go to sleep like 2am and I think I stayed up all night. I remember because it’s the only note I ever wrote that it “pepped me up”. Wow…
I hope you update when you try it again. I’m curious what a much lower temp would do, too.
It was bitter from the first steep for me, which I usually like but it was lacking other qualities to back it up. The tastes and aftertastes early on, though, were really nice.
Will do. :)
An abyss of a tea box. Love it! Haven’t had one of those in a while :)