Bold sheng with both a good medium-full body and tastes that remain very consistent throughout the session. Balanced astringency and bitterness. Not sweet but I feel like this is going to develop a redfruit-caramel sweetness waaaay down the road (I’m probably way off haha!). Into the Mystic is currently bright, tart and herbaceous, to me an undeniable mix of cranberry and lemon thyme, with later infusions feeling more like sour orange and tobacco. Florals here and there. Old dark wood, too. Hints of unripe apricot and cream in the finish but the tea is lacking in aftertaste — at this point it’s just tart.
What starts as a whisper of pine forest crescendos soon into a full-blown clean peppermint/menthol cooling in the mouth and body. A very pleasant warm, numbing grip in throat, warm chest, sweating. I’m questioning everything, my notes trail off… restless, tracers, wanderings. Probably because I’m riddled with anxiety while withdrawing from snus. Spent leaf smells like white grapefruit and looks like a blend of two maocha — one of them showing oxidation mostly on the stems attached to thin olive leaf; the other a bolder, darker green.
The tea feels fairly clean and balanced but I am left perplexed? Because of its age? Nothing was off about it. Need more time exploring the Mystic to suss it out. Something about it makes me want to buy a cake and expose it to higher humidity buuut I’m not $150 rich.
Song pairing in my head: Primus — Too Many Puppies
Lincang?
Flavors: Apricot, Cranberry, Cream, Dark Wood, Flowers, Grapefruit, Herbaceous, Lemon, Menthol, Orange, Peppermint, Pine, Red Fruits, Tart, Thyme, Tobacco
I’m perplexed because this tea is currently very forward and high-noted with no hand strong enough lurking in the shadows to pull it down. Want to liken the tea’s character to Icarus.