Raw notes:
After 5 second rinse, vegetable broth aroma, green or lima beans, floral
1: straw/pale yellow green, with slight tendency to orange on first steep
umami, very slight bitter on the back of the tongue, full mouthfeel, veg broth, spinach
2: floral aromas diminishing, more earthy, sweet aromas, wet bark
second steep brings out brightness, more lima bean flavor, bitterness is way down, spinach is less.
lingering tannic astringency, almost not there.
3: brings more woody aromas, toast
taste is very bright and sweet, bitterness is coming back just a bit, cereal notes, like toasted rice. Toasted rice flavor stays for quite a while, very long pleasant aftertaste.
4: strong toasted grain aromas with still that green/lima bean underneath
brightness is down quite a bit, spinach flavor is coming back up under the toasted rice, bitterness increasing a bit more.
astringency stays with some broth kind of flavor as the spinach and rice flavors compete
5: cut grass aroma joins the party
bitterness recedes, flavors all muted a bit. astringency up, something mineral on top of the toast and spinach, like a butter crisp or romaine lettuce leaf chewed straight out of the garden, but faint.
6: pushed steep out of sequence to 45s. aroma is becoming flat ‘green tea’ with a strong toasty low end and almost no floral
flavor is very sweet, no bitter or astringency, but not much else going on.
7: push to 1:15 to close it out. Finishes with aroma of cut grass and toasted rice. Very pleasant. Reminds me of late summer (how apropos)
Flavor is a touch of sweetness over grass and toast, all very faint.
A nice hour and some spent with this tea. I would definitely drink this again, and can recommend it.
150ml Gaiwan, 175F, 12s + 4s per add’l steep except where noted.
Flavors: Floral, Freshly Cut Grass, Green Beans, Lettuce, Lima Beans, Spinach, Toasted Rice, Wet Wood
