In my last Camellia Sinensis order, I got a mystery teabag as part of a contest, and if you identified what it was, you could win $500 worth of tea. Unfortunately, I only looked at the teabag after the contest was over, so here we are. At least I know what it is! I steeped 3 g of leaf in a 355 ml mug using 185F water for 3:30, 4:30, 6, and 10 minutes.
The dry aroma is of kale, spinach, hazelnuts, and sunflower seeds. The first steep has notes of spinach, kale, lettuce, green beans, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, earth, and umami. I can sort of see how the vendor says it is herbaceous. The finish is a little drying, but it’s not particularly bitter, though more bitterness comes out as it cools. The next couple steeps accentuate the beans and hazelnuts, with an earthy, herbaceous, vegetal background. The final long steep is vegetal and grassy.
I certainly feel like I’m getting my veggies with this one, and though this isn’t a bad thing, I can’t see myself drinking it regularly. Still, I’m glad to have tried a tea that I normally would have ignored, especially because it was pretty good!
Flavors: Earth, Grass, Green Beans, Hazelnut, Herbaceous, Kale, Lettuce, Spinach, Sunflower Seed, Umami, Vegetal
Love the contest idea, although there is no way I could win it with my wonky tastebuds!
There’s no way I would have gotten it either! I might have guessed it was a Chinese green, but not which one.