Flow Inverse Tea

Gongfu!

Today I’m finally trying the Lichuan Black Tea sample that this company kindly gifted me to review!! The green tea they sent, which I reviewed about a week back, really impressed me, so my expectations for this tea were high. I think it lived up to them, though. The leaves are gorgeous with a deep umber colour contrasted by the many fine golden tips. In terms of taste this was rich and very full bodied with an explosion of malt and starchy baked yam sweetness. Those initial notes were supported by flavours of dark chocolate and dried apricots with a more floral, lingering finish that made me think of traditionally rosewater flavoured Turkish delights. Very potent, and something I am excited to revisit. My only criticism is really the cost. It’s not that I necessarily feel the tea overpriced, but I do think that there are teas of the same or higher quality offered at the same price range from companies that are a lot more accesible to order from – and that can be a tough hurdle to overcome.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C92oYFVO_DU/?img_index=1

To be honest, I rarely drink tea at my desk anymore. I find my usual set up by the window with all my plants quite grounding. Though it’s arguably as equally cluttered as my desk, which rarely has the space to accommodate a tea tray anymore, there’s something about it that feels more intentional/curated. Plus the lighting is typically so much better. However, I recently moved this plant (thank you @helensealplum for the plant baby) up to the top of the desk and it’s been thriving, so I was a little more inspired to have my morning tea session in this space instead and incorporate it into the photography.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXcX94gLTfo

Gongfu!

Flow Inverse Tea was kind enough to gift me with some tea samples to try out, including this one. As most of y’all know, I don’t tend to drink a lot of straight green teas outside of anything that has been roasted, but this one intrigued me since it’s not all too typical to see a Chinese green that has been steamed instead of the more traditional pan-firing process. I enjoyed this session quite a lot but that was probably because it captured pretty much all of my favourite tasting notes in all my “exception to the rule” green teas: soybean, chestnut, nori, sweetgrass. The only thing it was missing was that cool, crisp cucumber pulp or sugar snap note I love. But even still, if these tasting notes were playing cards then I would have sworn I was playing with a loaded deck. Overall, smooth, buttery and medium bodied. A very solid first impression from this new-to-me tea company, and now I’m even more stoked to try the black tea they sent me!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9fP7l1uci2/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylUcnX3-he0