Thé de Cru

Oversteeped, it was still really good. Can I mess this tea up? No…. it’s crazy.

Silly B, you bought this (around) this time last year while in Montreal, yet never drank it!? Oh yes, because you couldn’t – you sent it back to yourself from Montreal, to Vancouver, before you headed off to Europe. Yes, of course. Still! :)

So, finally trying this tea. The leaves were stunning, and smelled deliciously chocolately, with long spindles and great art to each one – I spent some time just enjoying them as I tried to make them fit into my teaspoon. They didn’t.

Saw a few rose petals and cardamom in the mix, not sure what else. It is a beautiful, subtle, very French chai though, one that I’ll savor a long, long time. It’s creamy and malty, a touch sweet, lightly spiced and with a hint of chocolate. It’s very, very good… I may have to give Chandernagor a taste today to compare. I think this one might win…

Thank you for this rarity, MissB! Right off the bat, I’m going to agree with the description that this is très végétal, although I do not think that this resembles corn in any way. It’s too bitter and green to be corn. It’s more akin to bitter greens. Swiss chard maybe? It’s like steamed salad comprising bitter vegetables. It reminds me of the salad that my Uncle and Aunt served at their wedding many moons ago when I was still just a kid. I have no idea what was in it, but it had a mixture of sour and bitter leaves together with what I thought at the time was normal lettuce. I have no idea what was in there. But this reminds me of those bitter notes.

Yeah yeah, I need to educate myself on bitter greens. I always eye them at the grocery store, hoping to pick some up, but they’re always buggy and not in good condition. So for now, I’ll just go ahead and say this is steamed Swiss Chard in a mug.

Eh….
I brewed this gong fu off of the recommendations of another company, since astringency was mentioned and I wanted to avoid it if I could. No such luck.
It basically tastes like the bitter part of an artichoke. It is a tolerable astringency, if there had been any other flavor to counter it. After three cups, the first at 30 seconds and the last two at 15 with no improvement in flavor, I think I may have to quit- it’s making my stomach upset :(.
Thanks, MissB for the opportunity to try bamboo green. I now know that I’m not a fan!

Grabbed this while I was in Montreal six months ago, and never opened it, just sent it home. Silly me! Now that I am back, it was on the top of my pile to try.

Sadly, I messed it up. 130 degrees and an oversteep, plus a tea kettle that had water sitting in it for who knows how long. I won’t rate it, no way this is doing it justice.