It’s been off and on raining all day, but nothing super heavy. Drizzling, really.
I’ve been waiting literally all day to head outside in the pouring rain and drink a cup of tea, but honestly it’s getting so late now and I’ve kind of given up on waiting for the rain now so I just kind of went “fuck it” and brought my Gong Fu tray and a carafe outside, set up my laptop in the boot room with a good album playing and just enjoyed my tea outside with a journal to scrawl out some notes.
I started with a wash, and then each infusion afterwards I increased by seconds starting with five seconds for the first proper infusion. I think I got a pretty good session out of the tea, and most importantly it was very peaceful and relaxing.
- 1st infusion:
Roasty/nutty with clean profile and no lingering notes in the finish
- 2nd infusion:
The same but with lingering plum-y sweetness on the roof of my mouth
- 3rd infusion:
Roasty, nutty, wet wood, mineral, sweet, raisin, malt, plum (in that order)
- 4th infusion:
Touch of astringency/pucker, more mineral and raisin with aftertaste of leaves and bark
- 5th infusion:
Sharp decline in liquor colour; surprised at the lack of longevity this is showing
- 6th infusion:
Moving away from the roasty/nutty/woody side of things towards sweet, mellow fruit
- 7th infusion:
Plum, raisin, apricot, fuji apple, banana peel and hints of almond/marzipan in the finish
- 8th infusion:
Liquor is almost running clear – faintest notes of plum, marzipan but not much else
- 9th infusion:
Oversteeped this one but even still it brewed up like water; leaf is officially spent
And for anyone curious, the album I picked out was Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams album. It’s just such peaceful, easy going music – and I feel like his voice perfectly matches the soft, soothing roastier aspects of the tea as well as the sweetness of the fruit.
Also, I have to say I was pleased to see many of my initial observations when I drank this one Western style still held pretty true for the Gong Fu method of brewing.
