A tea from Jersey in the Channel Islands, produced at the fledgling Peacock Farm!
Brewing directions say 165F but I’ve had wonderful results at 175F and even with hot water from the work dispenser, which is certainly much hotter.
The dry leaf smells like sweet, wet grass now dry, kind of earthy-musty with maybe a sugarcane-cocoa sweetness; a hint of blanched nettle.
When brewed grandpa style in a glass, the leaves sink within a few minutes to the bottom and produce a green-gold brew with glinting hairs suspended. I smell marshamallo and sugar cookie, young grass.
The tea is viscous and sweet with a refined astringency. Left to sit, the flavor develops from something like sugarcane and minerals with a touch of toasted green bean into something even sweeter with smooth, rounded and oh-so-slightly savory tones of marshmallow, toasted rice and chrysanthemum along with that hint of blanched nettle found in the dry leaf. A sticky sweetness clings to the entire mouth in the aftertaste. By the third fill, I’m noticing more acidity — a gentle lemon and grassy-toasted green bean taste with fleeting honeysuckle. A fourth fill leaves my mouth feeling raw and sore, like there’s enzymatic action.
An absolute pleasure to drink despite being a 2021 pick and the raw mouthfeel after pushing the leaf too much. I would consider ordering future harvests of this green tea and the black tea. Just have to practice a little denial knowing the cost of the fresh leaf :P Leafhopper and I split this one while on sale.
Feeling: undecided
Flavors: Chrysanthemum, Cocoa, Cookie, Grass, Green Beans, Honeysuckle, Lemon, Marshmallow, Mineral, Rich, Round, Smooth, Sugarcane, Sweet, Toasted Rice, Toasty, Viscous
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I loved the black tea version. I can only imagine how good the green one is, and I’ve been drinking green a lot more lately as I’ve been a little bit more health conscious of caffeine consumption.
A Channel Islands tea! I didn’t realize its climate would support a farm.
Now I want to binge-read “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.”
Derk, I’m looking forward to this tea! Sounds like gongfu steeping might not be the way to go if I don’t want astringency.
Gmathis, I liked that book as well! :)
Well, that’s place I never thought it will be tea producing :)
Leafhopper, another one that’s very similar is “Letters from Skye” by Jessica Brockmole. At first, I thought it similar to the point of plot plagiarism, but after a few chapters, I was so into it, it didn’t matter any more.
I loved the black tea version. I can only imagine how good the green one is, and I’ve been drinking green a lot more lately as I’ve been a little bit more health conscious of caffeine consumption.
A Channel Islands tea! I didn’t realize its climate would support a farm.
Now I want to binge-read “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.”
Derk, I’m looking forward to this tea! Sounds like gongfu steeping might not be the way to go if I don’t want astringency.
Gmathis, I liked that book as well! :)
Well, that’s place I never thought it will be tea producing :)
Leafhopper, another one that’s very similar is “Letters from Skye” by Jessica Brockmole. At first, I thought it similar to the point of plot plagiarism, but after a few chapters, I was so into it, it didn’t matter any more.