Was not in the mood for anything either too heavy or too light, not an oolong, nothing flavored, not something I’ve never tried before and something I have plenty of in case I botch it in my grogginess.
Golden Jade it is, a green black mix I have tons of from Teavana’s Heavenly Sale. So I preheated the cast iron pot and looked under my hutch for one of the tins- gold with white cranes and jade green trees and yes I have two of them full. This should tell you I love this tea right?
Shrug it’s never gotten bitter for me and isn’t too vegetal which is why I sold lots of it when it was 75%. But I don’t think I’ve ever taken the tiTme to fully appreciate it, only brewing it at work a few times. So I thought I’d treat it right and hoped it would be as delicious as I said it was.
The leaves are fluffy and curly, soft grey and gold. Looks like moss, smells like sweetgrass. I recall its descibed as light bodied with cocoa and floral aroma, when has that ever meant anything? After experiencing Verdant’s Autumn Laoshan Black and surprisingly Upton’s Tinderet White I was prepared for Golden Jade to fall short of cocoa.
But it didn’t, those first two sips were full on sweet remarkable cocoa, fading to a nice smooth Chinese green nuttiness with a bit of veg and yeah I suppose a bit of floral, but nothing fragrant thank goodness because that might be weird, just a good clean soft floral. Sure it’s not as bold a dark chocolate as the Laoshan Black and it’s not as high a sweet as the Kenyan white. This is the middle ground, it’s got good body and the cocoa is definitely there though it doesn’t hang on for long. It kinda reminds me of kettle corn in an odd way without any dry saltiness.
I haven’t tried a second infusion, but I will, but for now I’ve got a pot on its warmer to enjoy and a boy who has just informed me he wants popcorn. Ironic. Toddler chugged my last cup and said “mmmm that’s good!”
I love hearing what your two year old thinks of the tea!