Chris Blanton Send Message

Light and refreshing with almost no astringency – this tea is delicate yet still engaging without too thin a mouthfeel. Flower and mineral are the predominant flavors, but it doles those out in great balance. Little to no earthy, woody, grass/hay notes in this which I think is a nice departure.

little knotted leaves smell of kale and unripe melon. The brew smells invitingly polen, floral, honey – a real mood lifter. The soup is pleasantly bitter at it’s hottest point, opening into honeysuckle, pollen, greens, light rye, honey and green melon. Steady astringency provided ample mouthfeel, giving way to hints of sweetness as it cooled. Refreshing and invigorating.

This cute little tuo is my go-to drink right now. The cakes are generally well packed but still pretty easy to break apart and smell delightfully like, well, pussy. The steam coming off the pour smells even better, like fresh dewy moss and sweet malt. The flavor is rich, changing and maturing as the soup cools; stonefruits and warm bread and a nice backdrop of damp deciduous forest, maybe bamboo? It’s mouthfilling with a gentle astringency.

I like to break this over a bed of Arbor’s Makaibari Oolong right now, which adds astringency and hay notes and I think they compliment each other well.