996 Tasting Notes
Very forgiving tea with respect to brewing time. The jasmine scent is subtle, but complements the mild flavours of the tea well. In later steeps, when the jasmine scent is mostly gone, the tea develops a noticeable apricot aroma and flavour, which is slightly sour.
Flavors: Apricot, Jasmine
A decent jasmine tea. It has a nice smell, which can be a bit overbearing though. Generally I found it a bit hard to find the right brewing method for this tea. It often turned out either too mellow or too bitter.
Preparation
Very light oolong, but I don’t particularly enjoy its taste, which is somewhat sour and flat. Later infusions are more mineral. It has a nice fruity smell, mostly apricots.
Flavors: Almond, Apricot, Astringent, Butter, Grass, Wet Rocks
Preparation
Spring 2017 harvest.
The only Gyokuro I have tasted so far, so I can’t say how it compares with others, but I love it. It has all the characteristics one would expect from a Gyokuro – strong umami, very vegetal, mid to high astringency and sweet aftertaste.
For brewing, I would usually use this method with shorter first brew of about 8 to 10 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_QY9Ben4Hg
Flavors: Almond, Astringent, Grass, Nuts, Sweet, Umami, Vegetal
