This sample came to me from Sil in a surprise Christmas card! Unfortunately the postal service did a good job of completely grinding this one to nearly matcha. Did someone stomp on it??
I kept it cool and a quick steep. It kinda looks like matcha with all that powder floating around in there! It does smell amazing, however. So floral (I’m amazed you liked this one, Sil! ;)). It’s a familiar floral but I can’t quite place it right now. Lilacs isn’t quite right, but I’ve definitely smelled it in a garden before. The flavor definitely has a bit of a fresh apricot, and I can see where TTC describes an almond-like note. It’s fresh and green and lovely. This is quite amazing, even stomped to bits. I may have to order some bao zhong from them when I do get around to making an order.
ETA: Yeah, I’m going to go ahead and rate this one pretty highly. It’s really that good, the broken leaf doesn’t even matter that much!