Sipdown (419)!
This is only a temporary sipdown; I actually ordered 100g of this on Black Friday. I’m somewhat frustrated with myself though because I ordered it because I thought it’d be really interesting to try, and then immediately after placing my order I went downstairs to find a tea to drink and I saw that I did in fact have a sample ball of this one. D’oh! So lets hope I like it, since I have more coming in…
I’m gonna Gong Fu this one today; but if I’m being honest it’s still very early in the day and I’m still quite tired so I already know this is likely gonna be a sloppy Gong Fu session without a lot of precision. With that said, lets get into it!
Starting with a double rinse; ten seconds x2! Mostly I just want to give the ball its best chance to open up before really digging into this one. After the rinses, we take a rest and we’re ready to really begin!
Steep One – Ten Seconds
Very sweet and mild, with some floral/honeysuckle notes. Not much actually going on yet in terms of flavour, though.
Steep Two – Twelve Seconds
Stronger flavour from this steep; floral undertones and some malt/cream in the body; I still get honeysuckle but it’s also a bit headier than honeysuckle would be. Straw/hay as well.
Steep Three – Twenty Seconds
Kind of the same as steep number two, but a little sweeter and I feel as if I’m getting traces of almond in the finish?
Steep Four – Twenty-five Seconds
Ooh, yes – this is VERY good! Top notes are hay and fresh cream and the body is very sweet honey, almond, and jammy preserves. I want to say more of like a light cherry thing, but I think that’s just ‘cause almond always make me think of cherry (it’s the almond/cherry/marzipan connection). Very soft, jammy red fruits anyway! Really smooth and pleasant!
Steep Five – Thirty(ish) Seconds
Possibly best infusion yet; very, very sweet with strong notes of fresh cream, hay, malt, almond, and honey throughout. Overall I find myself thinking of marzipan or almond infused sugar cookies? Which is a delightful tea session experience. Hints of fruitier undertones here but focus point is definitely on the former notes.
Steep Six – Forty-five Seconds
Same notes are represented as the previous steep but with less overall sweetness. However, there’s also a sharpness to the top of the sip here that makes me think more of a grassy/cucumber skin sort of thing. It feels a little out of left field, in terms of everything else that’s been experienced thus far.
Steep Seven – One Minute
This one will be my last infusion, I think – the flavour is actually still VERY good but I’m getting very bored with the session and I’m ready to move onto something else. It’s still got a fair bit of sweetness and strong notes of malt, hay/straw, almond, honey, and cucumber skins with some really, really light floral things (honeysuckle) going on in the undertones. I know I could very easily continue to push the session and still get several good steeps for this but I’m happy with the experience I’ve had.
So, overall I actually kind of really love this!? The almond was such a pleasant surprise but a really delicious note in this session and I’m very happy that it was so consistent throughout all of the infusions. I can very safely say that grabbing that 100g of Moonlight Dragon Balls on BF wasn’t a mistake at all! This will be a delightful thing to have in my cupboard!
