Inachevée de Constantinople

I am lucky today, when I opened my mailbox I have seen a lot of advertising papers and behind Santa Claus ! not himself but he took the appearance of the Postman and left for me : my Theodor tea order, cteresa’s swap envelope and Terri Harplady’s second swap box !
Yes !!!! Now I am embarrassed because I have so much teas I cannot decide which to begin by.

So after one hour turning around my teas,I finally decided to drink this one first.

The dry leaf scent is really magic even if quite herbal, of course it’s a green tea…not so surprising- the flavours scents are lovely and I get first a dominant apple and a supportive rose .
I brewed it as required on my bag (handwritten notes behind the bag-I love handwritten notes even on tea bags): 85°C I found this a little weird for a green I generally never give much than 80° but decided to follow the instructions.
The liquor is really beautiful, a lovely pale green almost yellow.
There is NO astringency neither bitterness (release! I am so picky with green teas)
The green tea base is nice and mellow (yes, a mellow green tea…hurray it exists !)
The flavours are really mixed :apples, dates, rose, peppermint for sure. I am so sorry for not being able to taste almond, especially because I love so much almond teas.
For sure this tea reminds Orient as constantinople is the muse. It makes me think to Thé du Hammam (green tea base, rose and dates) but it is different, less fruity, more grave somehow.

While cooling apple and rose continue to dominate.

I made this a little bit too hot and I think a little bit too long – should have been 5 degrees (real degrees that is ;) Kelvin or celsius) and one minute less. It is, like a lot of Théodor teas, a forgiving tea. Though I think due to it being brewed hotter than my first attempts, I am finally getting a hint of the apple mentioned on tea description.

This is a masterfully well blended flavour tea – a great smooth green tea base and then a blended mix just in proportion of evocative flavours. No flavour is really dominant, this is not a one note or predominant note tea, but different flavours seem to work at different levels. The mint is the first thing, then the rose and apple and the date last. I do not detect the almond, but sweet almonds are not very strongly flavoured anyway.

A truly well done tea blend – and a very elegant one as well somehow.

PS – to add, it resteeps very well! Slightly different notes on resteep, a little bit more rose and more date and maybe the elusive almond, maybe not. I expected a lot more mint because the spent leaves smell so minty, but not so much on the taste. But a definite two steeps blend.

Hey hey, I had this earlier today! Only was able to get to it after it cooled, and I found it a bit floral for my tastes, although quite lovely for a deeper green. I think I oversteeped it however, because it was also a bit bitter at the end of the sip.

I wish I remembered more, however it was a crazy day, and I just feel like I can settle down now (at 2:54am!) Thank you Ysurella you’re incredibly kind for sharing this with me. :) I owe you!

So a while back I received some samples from the ever-lovely Ysaurella, but I have neither been in possession of the time nor the faculties for note writing until now, so the samples have had to wait patiently. In very pretty air-tight containers, though, so they haven’t exactly been languishing.

My benefactress had recommended 75C for 3-4 minutes, so I went with 80C (my kettle only does increments of ten) a brief cooling off period, and then a three-minute steep.

In the bag already, it is quite clear this is an exquisite green – I had to force myself to brew it fearlessly, as the scent of the sample was so delicate and complex the risk to lose some small delicious note along the way seemed overwhelming.

But, in the end, I managed to keep my hands steady and my timing timely.

In the cup, the complexity of the dry tea prevails. For me, the notes most present taste wise are apple and date. The apple in particular is interesting – it can’t really make up its mind. Is it a red apple? Is it a green apple? Is it a special fairytale multiplex apple? Possibly, possibly, and possibly.

All in all this is a very pleasant tea, with a light, rosey aftertaste. I have synesthetic tendencies, and this tastes the colour of green marzipan. I see the cake from my 25th birthday (and many other birthdays, I admit I do love my princess cake) as I sip.

Thank you so much, Ysaurella!

[Sample from Ysaurella, spring 2014.]