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I have an unlabeled packet of tea seeds from Liquid Proust. This came as part of an LP group buy in 2018. Is that your photo, Roswell Strange? And do the 3 dishes of tea seeds correspond to A/B/C? The ones I have look exactly like the third dish, so I’m dropping a note here.

These little clove-looking seeds are from the Camellia Sinensis tea plant. Some have fuzzy little buttons in the center so I was thinking maybe they’re flower buds and not seeds? What am I doing…

My first attempt is brewing several teaspoons in one of my clay teapots, long and hot because they are as hard as cloves. When I opened the bag, there was a high aroma of spicy, woody geranium and tea rose. When I cup them in my palm they smell yeasty, twiggy and tangy-musty. I did rinse them briefly and let them steam for a while. They ended up smelling like the tea-in-hand aroma though more like a yeast roll and peppery-airy, aged wood and forest floor. I feel like I can smell a living tea tree typing that up :)

I’m just sitting here doing my taxes and brewing these however long. The aroma is sweet honeysuckle, woody and spicy. Roswell Strange said “Tea Seeds – A” tastes similar to an aged white — while not the same seed, dang right do these have that similarity. But it’s different somehow. Light, sweet, floral, refreshing, soothing in a gentle viscous body that swallows a touch dry. The essence of tea. The aftertaste is like yeasty baked goods. The first thought that popped into my head will probably not be understood by many people reading: Auntie Anne’s pretzels. The bottom of the cup smells like warm, golden spun sugar. I’ll see what later steeps turn into, if they turn more concentrated in flavor.

I have a pot simmering on the stove right now with the rest of the sample. Going to taste it as it reduces.