Poundcake is not really my kind of tea, although it would be nice to have it in the cupboard for diversity purposes. It is fairly easy to drink, and has a distinctively sweet and herbal profile.
The dry leaf aroma is mineral and flowery (Breckland thyme and mountain flowers) with a hint of cabbage smell. From the wet leaves, I get aromas of cooked vegetables, forest and parsley. I found the taste profile a little flat, although it does have a considerable floral bitterness. I found flavours of alcohol, stonefruits, pickled apricots and nigella seeds. The aftertaste is farily long, but not overly strong. As the other flavours die out, the apricot tends to be enhanced.
The body is medium and the mouthfeel is somewhat milky and drying. One of the most memorable aspects of the tea is its cha qi. I found it quite disorienting, which wouldn’t normally be a great choice while getting work done. However, today I needed some new inspiration and in fact as I was lying on the floor half dreaming, I did get some new ideas for my current research project so that’s not too bad. Truth be told, when I recovered from the tea, I did realize some of these ideas don’t really work.
In some strange way, late steeps reminded me of Da Hong Pao. But I couldn’t identify which aspect of the tea it was that created this connection. It also reminds me a little of the 2016 YS Monkey Mini Tuo Cha.
Flavors: Apricot, Bitter, Drying, Floral, Flowers, Heavy, Herbaceous, Metallic, Mineral, Spices, Stonefruit, Sweet, Thyme, Wet Rocks
