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dry leaf is gorgeous. large dark leaves, on the looser side of compression.

hints of hay, metal in the gaiwan lid.
the minty throat-cooling is real, starting with the first steep.
in steeps two and three, noticing a splotchy film on the surface of the liquid; not sure whether it’s from the tea itself (oil? particulate matter? both? other?) or a contaminated environment (though it is the same place in which i usually tea).
i’m not doing a good job at identifying other elements of this tea right now. hopefully in a future session i can be more attentive. #workdayteas

15s rinse, few minutes’ rest.
1, ~5s — savoury, hints of grain, butter, vegetable, hint of floral in the aftertaste. mouthfeel smooth and rounded — creamy? no astringency.
2, ~10s — similar, with a bit of tongue tingle coming in, and a slight bit more floral.
3, ~15s — more tingling, still creamy. i think i really like this tea, despite it being more savoury than i usually think of my preferences as. there’s also a chance i’ve cooked it somewhat — my temperature control is not fantastic at the moment. bitterleaf is becoming fairly dangerous to my wallet.
keeps going along the same lines; a bit more astringency creeping in but nothing massive. some fluffy dry mouth afters, with some mouth&throat cooling/mintiness.

so, a lot of people have reviewed this tea since it was in the tea club. this is more of a note than a review proper. this was my second session with it; i don’t remember anything about the first one, really (oops). however, today i busted it out again.

jebus, did this tea put me on my ass. not sure whether it was my mostly-empty stomach or what. had a definite weird feeling in my belly (which i failed to analyze in any depth prior to stuffing some food into it), followed by intense whole-body dizziness and a decidedly out-of-it feeling. definitely something. it’s been over four hours since i started, and i’m still feeling weird, with elevated heartrate (a hummingbird has invaded my chest cavity) and weird dizziness behind my eyes, combined with sweating and a very heavy i-want-to-lie-on-the-couch feeling. also had a period earlier on where i listened to muse’s absolution [album] with more gusto than i have in ages (don’t really listen to music very often these days).

so, wild’n’crazy tea times. this might be the first time i can identify the effects of tea as a feeling that could be called “tea drunk”. i definitely didn’t feel like it was a good idea to drive to get some lunch. (i might have eaten hot dog bun pb&j. don’t judge.)

this is quite pleasant. i’d forgotten how much i like bamboo notes… and the tea itself is low-astringency and has a nice amount of flavour. hint of floral-ish and dry aftertaste.

4g in 60ml porcelain gaiwan. compression on the tighter side. lots of big leaf pieces.
starts off sweet, then other flavours join in. some minty feeling in back of mouth after the sip. liquid itself has a nice smooth sweet mouthfeel.

it’s a workday, so my session is not full of detailed notes; however, i find it a pleasant tea, gloriously (to me) sweet with a gentle complexity that comes in. i am liking it a great deal.

it is indeed soft and gentle; quite nice. i drank the rinse, which was far sweeter than i expected. later steeps were less sweet but still calm. bit of a floral aftertaste. flavour and aftertaste shift a bit more vegetal over time, like a savoury spinachey sencha sort of flavour. i may have used too-hot water and cooked it. :P having a bit of a head-fluffiness effect on me, at least on tired today.

60ml porcelain gaiwan, porcelain cup. I’m drinking indoors, in the air-conditioning, which seems to do funny things to my sense of smell and hence my taste, lately… but it’s just too warm to have the windows open right now. 5s rinse, few minutes’ rest, beginning with flash steeps.

Dry leaf is lovely. Long pieces that are loosely acquainted. Smells strongly fruity and sweet.

Damp leaf smells sort of spicy/peppery after a rinse. First steeps are… light, some clean vegetable flavours. Just a very light hint of astringency. The liquid feels soft, with just a hint of viscosity. Some vaguely floral sweetness after. Third steep starts to climb around the sides and back of my tongue with some drying.
A few steeps later (lost count), the inside of the gaiwan lid starts to smell like a mild green bell pepper spice. The flavours shift more floral, more drying astringency, still with a clean vegetal backdrop (hints of sencha), and a smooth feel to the liquid. A soft fluffiness has invaded my hearing, and a slight buzzing in my body that feels grounded.

The aftertaste is rather long, and my tongue actually feels tingly at the tip.

This is just… good. A very nice tea to have on a quiet afternoon. There’s a lot to it that I am unable to articulate. The flavours are well-rounded. Glad I ordered myself a sample and have a few more sessions with it. :)