This one came my way in a surprise envelope from Sil. Thanks!
I read the notes beforehand thankfully, and steeped this below boiling. I got preoccupied actually, so the water was nice and cool. I’m not getting any astringency here, but the smell is far better than the actual taste. The taste seems watered down, but I would say that’s definitely my fault. I should have added more leaf, since my mug is oversized, but I wanted to save enough for a second cup in case I messed up haha. There is a hint of soft spiciness and a touch of nuttiness.
I also spent the last hour worrying about the feedback on my albatross research, because three other classmates received their feedback last night. I was sitting here thinking “the feedback/editing must be extreme, how much could I possibly have screwed up?!”. But my prof just emailed me and said it was excellent and looked professional. PHEW.