The infamous 05’ Naka! I decided that Christmas would be a wonderful time to remove this from storage and give it a steam. I’ve heard much murmuring and whispers about this “buzz” tea, so I needed to taste it for myself. I opened up the jar and grabbed a heavy chunk. The leaves are loosely pressed together, and they are a wild assortment of dark reddish brown tendrils. This cake gives off a nice deep scent of dark decayed wood, dried fruit sweetness, and some slight smoked tobacco. I broke some off and placed it inside my warmed jianshui. My brewing vessel exploded with intense aromas of pine resin, deep tobacco, and that same decayed wood. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The steeped leaves give off a deeper smokier scent with some sweet sap, saw wood, and more pine resin. This is a very deep and bold brew. The first sip was phenomenal with a clean dry taste mixed with a sweet plum aftertaste. The dry flavor resembled a light wood tone, such as oak. The brew was mostly soft tones with a pleasant and thick huigan. Also, I’d like to note that this session was taking place at a dining table during breakfast with many people around me (I was the only tea drinker). The brew grew pleasantly sour by the next two steeps and a mild eucalyptus flavor developed at the third steeping. The huigan grew more and more thick, as did the initial dry taste. At the fifth steeping, I began to look around the table, and I attempted to talk to someone sitting next to me. Again, I “attempted”. This session, mixed with being up late last night playing"Santa", and a busy morning left me feeling like I had been hit by a truck. The session continued, and I was picking up a beautifully sweet dried fruit flavor in later steeping sessions. Also, i carried a silly grin and muddled half opened eyes. I was having a good time, and this tea complimented that quite well. This brew gave me a deep calming feeling, as it states in the description. I felt as though my body was melting, and my muscles began to soothe. I couldn’t help but grin and laugh at my lazy posture. I was able to get quite a bit of steeps from my pot; however, at one point I had to get up and move around for fear I would pass out and bounce my head off the tea table. This is a peculiar and wonderful brew, and I am really happy to have some more of it. I do need to learn when and where to break it out though, ahaha.
https://www.instagram.com/p/_uQbxezGZH/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel
Flavors: Astringent, Decayed Wood, Dried Fruit, Drying, Oak, Plum, Sap, Tobacco