VT Liberty Tea Company

Taste: Almost salty initially, fades immediately into a sort of “round up” (yes, the weed killer) taste/smell but in a good way, rich, satisfying, almost woodsy somehow. Astringency lingers a bit on the finish.

My preferred brew: Mesh infuser in 6oz porcelain gaiwan, not quite boiling water, rinse cup first, add 1 tablespoon tea, fill gaiwan with hot water, steep about 2 minutes.

On-the-go brew (tastes sweeter this way): place 1-2 tablespoons of tea into infuser in the lid of an Aladdin 12-ounce travel infuser mug (infuser drops down into container and you can also brew upside down for smaller batches). Fill mug with water and leave top off. Microwave water for 1.5 minutes. (Do not microwave this mug more than 2 minutes tops, it’ll melt supposedly.) Put lid on and drop infuser into water. The tea doesn’t seem to get horribly bitter so if you overbrew it’s usually OK, just stronger and more roundup-like.

I’m not kidding about the roundup… it’s really strange but I like it, sort of like Puerh drinkers like drinking fishy sawdust…