Another new try this morning. I’m trying to work through my smaller quantities of tea in order to reduce my cupboard — it’s fairly crazily out of control at the moment. It also gives me the chance to try some new teas, which is nice, as I’ve become a little jaded with drinking the same teas over and over again. I’m sure I’ll appreciate them more after a refresher!
Anyway, the tea. I followed the parameters for this one, and gave 1tsp of leaf 1.5 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The leaves are very fine and string-like, and (at least dry) are fairly curly. Wet, they unfurl and become uniformly straight, with some unfolding into complete leaves with stem! The scent is very vegetal, like freshly cooked green beans with maybe a touch of butter.
Brewed, the liquor is a medium yellow-green shade. The flavour is quite intensely nutty, with an almost mossy edge. Wet leaves is what it really reminds me of, I think! It’s relatively sweet, particularly in the initial sip, and there’s a tiny note of citrus. It’s very lightly astringent. It doesn’t taste nearly as vegetal as it smells, although there is an element of buttery green beans, or maybe asparagus. Mostly, it reminds me of walking through a young forest in spring, after a light rain fall. It’s a very fresh, light flavour. I can see this one holding up well, so I may resteep it later. A delicious green!
Second steep was much, much lighter in flavour. It’s still mildly vegetal, but I’ve lost most of the notes I picked up earlier — there’s not very much nuttiness, no forest…it’s pleasant, but I liked the full strength initial steep more. The second steep could be my friend when I’m looking for a milder green, though, so I’ll bear it in mind for the future.
