MAY have said upon taking the first sips: “This is so so good and it’s only the first steep.” The dry leaf here doesn’t have hints of gold — maybe hints of dark red more than the other shu samples. The fragrance is rich and wonderful. The taste is also rich, especially for the first steep! Very sweet with hints of fruit. But also having my favorite qualities of coffee while being 1,000 times better than coffee. I think I might like the darkest shu because it reminds me of unsweetened dark chocolate — meaning it’s healthy chocolate, right? Somehow the first steep seemed the strongest of the four? That is unusual. I feel like I was VERY tame on that first steep and didn’t overdo it at all, so I’m not sure why the first steep was so strong. There were no negative flavors here at all, while also not really being very distinct other than reminding me of coffee and unsweetened chocolate on a very basic level. It’s so so weird that first steep was the most flavorful! All of these great shu samples have made me realize shu is my second favorite tea to have in winter — second only to chai.
Steep #1 // half sample (5grams) for medium sized mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 7 second rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 min