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First tea of the 2016 Sheng Olympics.

The sheer number of samples in this package had me a bit at a loss as to where to start, so it has taken me a while to jump in. With the exception of wanting to try the Verdant samples together, I didn’t really have a preference though, so today I just reached into the bag and grabbed one. This is the tea I chose.

I put the 6 grams in my 100ml gaiwan, gave it a quick rinse an waited a few minutes. The aroma coming off the leaves at this point was just a light vegetal scent, with perhaps a hint of seaweed. Steeps at 5s and 10s were very light, airy, wet forest. At steep 15sec. the body began to fill in. The soup became thicker and a mild bitterness brought a basenote to the airy vegetal beginning. Steeps at 20s, 25s, and 30s I really enjoy. There is a sourness that has been present since the first steep, which is now complemented by a strong vegetal middle, and a bitter mineral base. The sum of this is not necessarily something incredible but it feels complete.

At 35 seconds only the taste of wet rocks and minerals remain. 50 seconds and 1 min. bring a new flavor. Something akin to ashy soil. One last steep at 2 minutes brings nothing new. Overall I enjoyed this, particularly steeps 3 through 6. Not something I would be likely to buy though.

On a side note, these leaves are amazingly intact. LP you did an incredible job of breaking this up. This had to have a taken a ridiculous amount of time.