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I’m not ready to head to bed yet, so here is another of my tea reviews from 2020. I’m pretty sure this was my first Fukamushi sencha, like ever. I do not remember trying one prior to trying this one. Though this was supposed to be the budget offering of the two Fukamushi senchas What-Cha started carrying, I was very impressed by the quality of this tea.

I settled on a multi-step Western brewing process to prepare this tea. I started off by measuring out 3 grams of loose leaf material and steeping it in approximately 8 fluid ounces of 167 F water for 30 seconds. This infusion was followed by a 15 second infusion in 172 F water, a 45 second infusion in 177 F water, a 1 minute 15 second infusion in 182 F water, and a 3 minute infusion in 187 F water.

Prior to the first infusion, the dry leaf material produced aromas of grass, zucchini, pine, baked bread, and asparagus. After infusion, the leaf material (now more soggy leaf gunk than anything else), produced aromas of seaweed, spinach, peas, toasted rice, and vegetable broth. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented clear notes of peas, grass, zucchini, sweet corn, butter, toasted rice, chestnut, asparagus, vegetable broth, pine, and seaweed that were balanced by subtler impressions of baked bread, hay, and green apple. The second infusion introduced aromas of butter, chestnut, and summer squash. Summer squash notes came out in the mouth along with some very subtle hints of pear. The third infusion added lemon zest and green apple aromas with mineral notes and hints of both lemon zest and green apple in the mouth. The fourth infusion added a subtle green olive scent with hints of green olive also present in the tea liquor in addition to the presence of sea salt. The final infusion saw the nose turn salty and generally heavy with a mineral presence overall. The tea liquor was basically just bright green water by this point, but I did detect a mineral presence, some saltiness, and some light grassy, vegetal notes.

This was such a fun and enjoyable offering, even if all the shredded leaf material ended up turning into a mass of what appeared to be radioactive green goo in the bottom of one of my nylon brew baskets that required seriously heavy scrubbing to remove. I loved the intensely colored tea liquor and the approachable, pleasant, and complementary aroma and flavor profiles this tea displayed. Though the higher end Fukamushi sencha carried by What-Cha was more refined, this was still a tremendous offering for what it was. I actually enjoyed the two almost equally, but this tea struck me as offering more bang for the buck.

Once again I am up late and killing off some time by posting backlogged tea reviews from 2020. I’m slowly getting used to reviewing Japanese green teas, even though I am still not brewing them in anything resembling traditional fashion. Then again, do I ever really brew anything in traditional fashion? No, not exactly. I tend to personalize everything. This tea was something of a challenge for me. Prior to trying it, I was not all that familiar with houjicha and knew that what I usually do with sencha was probably not going to work well. A little research yielded a number of wildly different approaches to brewing houjicha, and I ended up settling on a multi-step approach suitable for Western brew baskets and tea mugs. I’ll outline my approach below.

To brew this tea, I opted for a multi-step Western brewing process. I started by measuring out 3 grams of loose tea leaves and steeping them in approximately 8 fluid ounces of 185 F water for 1 minute 30 seconds. This infusion was followed by two others. The second infusion lasted 30 seconds and was done with 203 F water. The third and final infusion was conducted with 212 F water and lasted 1 minute 30 seconds.

Prior to the first infusion, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of smoke, tar, charcoal, roasted barley, brown sugar, and roasted chestnut. After infusion, new aromas of coffee, butter, soybean, and toasted rice appeared. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of smoke, cream, butter, roasted barley, toasted rice, charcoal, coffee, minerals, soybean, vanilla, peas, and brown sugar that were underscored by delicate hints of tar, roasted chestnut, grass, hay, and baked bread. The second infusion introduced aromas of pine, ash, apple, sweet cherry, and cinnamon. Stronger and more immediate notes of grass, hay, baked bread, and roasted chestnut appeared in the mouth alongside notes of pine and hints of sweet cherry, ash, and cinnamon. The final infusion did not add anything new to the nose. The tea liquor turned very mineral-heavy in the mouth, although notes of pine, butter, smoke, cream, toasted rice, and roasted barley were still very much present. Hints of brown sugar, roasted chestnut, charcoal, soybean, grass, and baked bread could be detected as well, and a very subtle hint of apple also briefly made itself known.

I had absolutely no clue what I was doing with this tea, but it was still a very fun and enjoyable offering. Challenges are not always rewarding, but this tea ended up being one of those rewarding challenges for me. I cannot compare it to any other houjicha with any confidence, but I can state that I did enjoy this tea. It struck me as being a quality offering, and it also made me open up to the possibility of eventually trying and reviewing another houjicha or two. Could I ask for more than that from this tea? Should I? I don’t think so.

Though it is a little after 1:00 am here, I’m still up (side note: food poisoning sucks), so I figured I would go through my backlog and select at least one long overdue review to post. This one comes to you all from either late summer or early fall of 2020. I had been looking forward to trying this tea for ages by the time I actually took the opportunity to try it, but it ended up disappointing me.

I prepared this tea the way I prepare most sencha. I started off by measuring out 3 grams of loose tea leaves and then steeping them in approximately 8 fluid ounces of 158 F water for 1 minute. This initial steep was followed by four others. The second steep was conducted with 163 F water and lasted 30 seconds. The third steep lasted 45 seconds and was conducted with 168 F water. The fourth steep lasted 1 minute 30 seconds and made use of 173 F water. The fifth and final steep lasted 3 minutes and was conducted with 178 F water.

Prior to the first steep, I sniffed the dry tea leaves and found aromas of grass, hay, asparagus, chestnut, and toasted rice. After the first steep, I found new aromas of lemon rind, grapefruit pith, kale, spinach, and seaweed. The tea liquor offered mild notes of grass, hay, lemon rind, kale, grapefruit pith, and spinach that were balanced by hints of collard greens, butter, cream, seaweed, sweet corn, sour plum, and sour apricot. The second steep introduced aromas of collard greens, turnip greens, and parsley. Stronger and more immediate collard green, butter, and cream notes appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of parsley and turnip greens. I also detected hints of toasted rice, kumquat, chestnut, and orange zest. The third steep brought forth aromas of lemon zest and kumquat as well as a suddenly amplified grapefruit pith scent. The tea liquor began to turn more strongly vegetal in the mouth. Asparagus notes finally made themselves known, and more of a seaweed presence started to emerge. Very strong notes of collard greens, parsley, grass, kale, and turnip greens were present in addition to interesting hints of sour cherry and pear that were most noticeable after each swallow. The fourth go-round with this tea yielded grassier, more vegetal scents on the nose. The tea liquor offered pronounced sea salt and mineral notes backed by grassy, vegetal hints and some lingering citrus and sour fruit presences. Bizarrely, I just barely picked up on a surprise menthol presence that disappeared as quickly as I found it. The final steep didn’t offer much of anything on the nose. In the mouth, the liquor remained very salty and generally mineral-heavy, but with an increased butteriness. The sour fruit notes were suddenly amplified, but tended to fade fast after they made themselves known. Very slight grassy, vegetal hints remained. By this point, the tea liquor was becoming increasingly astringent, so I cut things off at this point.

First things first, I loved the gorgeous purple tea liquor this tea produced. I promised myself that I wouldn’t be suckered in by this tea’s gimmick, but I was. I was so excited to see a cup full of purple liquid that I took multiple pictures of it with my phone’s camera and sent them all to my best friend. In the middle of the night. On a weekday. Why? Because I’m a chump. That’s why. And I live a very boring, lonely, unfulfilling, unhealthy life. That was true last year when I was drinking this tea, and sadly, it’s still kind of true now. Anyway, getting back on track here, the actual drinking experience offered by this tea was kind of a rollercoaster. It was just up and down. While this tea was unique and did have a lot to offer, it didn’t consistently put it all together in a way that satisfied me. Though I am giving this tea a low score and generally would not recommend it over more traditional styles of sencha, I still don’t think it should be wholly avoided. If anything, it’s definitely worth a try just for the novelty factor it offers.

Okay, here is my final review of the day. Since I mentioned the spring 2018 Feng Qing Premium Black Gold Pearls in my previous review, I figured that I should just go ahead and post a review of them. As mentioned previously, I always like these more than the similar Feng Qing flowering black tea cones. That was very much the case with these spring 2018 black gold pearls.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped approximately 6 grams of formed tea in 4 fluid ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This initial infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea pearls emitted aromas of baked bread, sweet potato, malt, cream, chocolate, and sugarcane. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of vanilla, roasted almond, roasted peanut, and butter. I noted no new aromas on the first infusion. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, malt, baked bread, butter, and roasted almond that were chased by hints of sugarcane, lemon, sweet potato, roasted peanut, and chocolate. The bulk of the following infusions introduced aromas of caramel, honey, sorghum molasses, toffee, orange zest, lemon, marshmallow, banana, and eucalyptus in addition to a subtle earthy scent. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of sugarcane, lemon, sweet potato, roasted peanut, and chocolate came out in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, vanilla, honey, toffee, caramel, oats, orange zest, roasted chestnut, banana, marshmallow, and plum. I also detected hints of sorghum molasses, earth, and eucalyptus. As the tea faded, the tea liquor began to emphasize notes of minerals, malt, baked bread, cream, roasted almond, roasted peanut, caramel, and orange zest as well as amplified earthy impressions. Each swallow revealed a swell of sugarcane, butter, chocolate, lemon, sorghum molasses, sweet potato, marshmallow, eucalyptus, and roasted chestnut beyond the primary notes that lingered in the mouth.

This tea was like the Feng Qing flowering tea cones, only richer, deeper, smoother, and slightly more complex. There were several very unique aromas and flavors on display in this tea that really played a huge role in separating it from similar offerings. As a matter of fact, I would say that this was like the deluxe or luxury version of the black tea cones. Though both teas struck me as being worthwhile, this was definitely the better, more interesting, and more memorable of the two.

I am going to keep the reviews coming today, as I have some more free time this evening. Since I have a number of reviews of Yunnan black teas waiting to be posted, I want to go ahead and get one of them off the books. This was one of the last of the 2018 Yunnan black teas that I tried. I never rush the formed teas, as I know that they can handle some age, but that was not the reason I put off trying this one for so long. In truth, I have never been a huge fan of Feng Qing black tea cones. I have no clue why, but they never appeal to me as much as the Feng Qing black pearls. This was again the case with the spring 2018 offering of this type. I worked my way through a 50g pouch of this tea immediately before switching to the Feng Qing Black Gold Pearls, and I can safely say that I found the latter tea to be significantly better than this one.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped approximately 6 grams of the formed black tea in 4 fluid ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This initial infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea cones produced aromas of malt, cream, chocolate, sugarcane, vanilla, and sweet potato. After the rinse, aromas of roasted almond and roasted peanut emerged. The first infusion added aromas of baked bread and butter. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up delicate notes of roasted almond, butter, cream, malt, and sugarcane that were chased by fleeting hints of chocolate, baked bread, vanilla, and roasted peanut. The bulk of the subsequent infusions added aromas of orange zest, earth, honey, and caramel. Much stronger and more immediately detectable notes of chocolate, baked bread, roasted peanut, and vanilla came out in the mouth along with notes of minerals, earth, orange zest, caramel, honey, pear, red apple, cooked green beans, and sweet potato. Hints of eucalyptus, grass, lemon, and plum could also be detected on occasion. As the tea faded, the liquor began to emphasize notes of minerals, cream, baked bread, chocolate, roasted peanut, orange zest, vanilla, and earth that were followed by hints of honey, sugarcane, orange zest, butter, roasted almond, caramel, lemon, and sweet potato.

This was not a bad Feng Qing black tea, but it was very much what I expected it to be. Compared to a lot of the other Feng Qing black teas that I have tried, the black tea cones always strike me as being lighter and mellower with fewer quirks and rough edges. Unfortunately, I enjoy the quirks and rough edges of Feng Qing black teas and never seem to find enough of them in the black tea cones. I know that was very much the case with this tea. Overall, this tea struck me as being pretty good for what it was, but it also struck me as being a bit boring and predictable.

Here is another of my summer Old Ways Tea sample sipdowns. I had actually forgotten about buying this tea. My reaction to finding the 8g sample pouch of this was utter bewilderment. Then I went back through my records and realized that I bought it along with a bunch of other 2018 tea samples from Old Ways Tea. Anyway, I am a huge sucker for light roasted Shui Xian, and this one was very much worth my time.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 ounces of 203 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cinnamon, cedar, cream, baked bread, roasted almond, and black cherry. After the rinse, I detected wholly new aromas of roasted peanut, smoke, and grass as well as a subtle orchid scent. The first infusion added a rock sugar aroma and more of an orchid presence. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cinnamon, cream, roasted almond, baked bread, orchid, black cherry, and roasted peanut that were chased by hints of grass, smoke, cedar, blackberry, and blueberry. The bulk of the subsequent infusions added aromas of blackberry, minerals, orange zest, caramelized banana, and roasted barley. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of grass, blackberry, and blueberry appeared in the mouth alongside mineral, orange zest, rock sugar, moss, caramel, plum, and roasted barley impressions. Hints of black raspberry, caramelized banana, butter, vanilla, and red grape were present too. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, moss, grass, cream, orange zest, and roasted almond that were balanced by subtler notes of butter, black cherry, red grape, blackberry, rock sugar, and roasted barley.

This was a very pleasant and drinkable light roasted Shui Xian with a ton to offer. Compared to some of the other teas of this type that I have tried, the roast that was applied to this tea seemed much lighter and more delicate, but that impression could have been at least partially due to the tea’s age. Anyway, this was definitely a very nice offering. I could see it being an especially great option for those who are exploring Wuyi teas and want to get an idea of what the Shui Xian cultivar has to offer before exploring the heavier roasted variants of Wuyi Shui Xian and/or established fans of Wuyi oolongs who are looking for something a little lighter than the average Shui Xian.

This was another of my summer sipdowns. Normally, I would be averse to trying a 5+ year old tea that was not a pu-erh or some sort of hei cha, but Wuyi oolongs are usually built to last. The tea was already starting to pick up some age at the time I purchased it anyway, so I knew I wasn’t going to be getting the freshest tea in the world by the time it made its way to me. Surprisingly, the tea had not picked up a ton of aged characteristics by the time I finally got around to trying it. Instead, it just seemed to have mellowed and was very bright and vibrant in the mouth.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a standard 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cinnamon, charcoal, blueberry, blackberry, and wood. After the rinse, new aromas of black cherry, raspberry, and dark chocolate appeared. The first infusion introduced aromas of black pepper and orange zest plus a subtler smoky scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cinnamon, roasted almond, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, orange zest, and grass that were balanced by hints of black cherry, charcoal, wood, and black pepper. The bulk of the subsequent infusions quickly added aromas of grape leaf, roasted almond, grass, green olive, plum, roasted peanut, and baked bread. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of wood appeared in the mouth along with notes of minerals, rock sugar, grape leaf, roasted peanut, plum, and earth. Subtle flavors of smoke, green olive, baked bread, dark chocolate, apple, peach, and caramel were also present. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, earth, wood, grass, roasted peanut, and roasted almond that were followed by a consistent swell of baked bread, grape leaf, blackberry, blueberry, caramel, raspberry, plum, dark chocolate, orange zest, and rock sugar flavors, though I also noted a late emerging mushroom hint here and there.

As mentioned earlier, this was a surprisingly lively tea for its age. It displayed a ton of quality depth and complexity on the nose and in the mouth and also displayed tremendous body and texture for a tea of this type. In the past, Huang Guan Yin has not been one of my favorite Wuyi oolongs, but offerings like this (and those of Old Ways Tea) have forced me to come around on it. This was an excellent tea and clearly had lost very little with age. I could recommend it to someone right now and still feel confident in its ability to please.

While I’m at it, I may as well crank out another of these review things. This was yet another of my summer Old Ways Tea sample sipdowns, Before I get into the meat of this review, allow me to state that I almost always love the Jin Jun Mei offered by Old Ways Tea. While Jin Jun Mei is not my favorite style of Chinese black tea (it’s not even my favorite style of Wuyi black tea), the Jin Jun Mei Old Ways offers just consistently does it for me. This tea did not buck that trend. So far, it has been my favorite of the Old Ways Jin Jun Mei I have tried.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse (about 5-6 seconds), I steeped 5 grams of loose tea buds in 3 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds presented aromas of baked bread, clove, pine, caramel, molasses, cinnamon, malt, and juniper. After the rinse, aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, tangerine zest, butter, and lemon zest appeared. The first infusion added a slight black pepper aroma. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered strong notes of baked bread, roasted almond, pine, juniper, tangerine zest, lemon zest, malt, and marshmallow that were balance by hints of caramel, grass, butter, cinnamon, and black pepper. The bulk of the subsequent infusions introduced aromas of chocolate, marshmallow, honey, violet, candied orange peel, and minerals, as well as a subtle grassy scent. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of caramel, cinnamon, butter, and roasted peanut appeared in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, honey, chocolate, pear, red apple, cream, violet, and candied orange peel. I also noted hints of plum, clove, and molasses. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to offer notes of minerals, cream, baked bread, tangerine zest, malt, lemon zest, and marshmallow that were chased by fleeting hints of roasted almond, grass, caramel, butter, black pepper, chocolate, and roasted peanut.

This was very much not what I was expecting. I figured that I would get a very balanced tea with a ton of baked bread, honey, and spice notes, but instead this tea was floral, sweet, fruity, and almost syrupy in places. I know that the previous reviewer felt this tea had almost a bug-bitten quality, and well, I can kind of see it. It also reminded me of both a wild Jin Jun Mei and a Mei Zhan Jin Jun Mei. Whatever the case may be, this tea was very different from the standard teas of this type. Aside from being unique, it was also very enjoyable and memorable. I am now hoping that the 2019 Old Ways Jin Jun Mei will be able to compete with it.

Here is a review of a another of my summer sipdowns for everyone to enjoy. I think I polished off my 25g pouch of this tea in either July or August. At the time, I was concerned about the quality of this tea, as the only previous reviewer had not enjoyed it much. Fortunately for me, I found this to be an excellent Yunnan moonlight white tea. Actually, I would go a step further and say that it was one of the best I have ever had.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a standard 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This initial infusion was followed by 20 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of sugarcane, malt, cream, marshmallow, hay, wood, and eucalyptus. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, butter, grass, and baked bread. The first infusion introduced subtle aromas of minerals and honeydew. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented pleasant notes of cream, golden raisin, butter, malt, grass, hay, baked bread, oats, sugarcane, and roasted almond that were deftly balanced by subtler notes of plum, lemon, marshmallow, roasted peanut, wood, honeydew, and eucalyptus. The bulk of the subsequent impressions introduced a stronger aroma of honeydew and new aromas of oats, lemon, cinnamon, and golden raisin to the mix. More immediate and pronounced notes of lemon, honeydew, wood, roasted peanut, and marshmallow appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals and watermelon rind. Delicate, lively hints of cucumber, cinnamon, pear, orange zest, vanilla, apricot, and nectarine could also be detected. As the tea faded, the liquor began to emphasize notes of minerals, cream, baked bread, malt, roasted almond, and oats that were chased by a swell of honeydew, lemon, cucumber, hay, wood, roasted peanut, marshmallow, apricot, plum, eucalyptus, and watermelon rind flavors.

This was such a lovely example of a Yunnan moonlight white tea. It struck an excellent balance between rustic charm and smooth sophistication, melding gorgeous, complementary aroma and flavor profiles with a lively, substantial, crisply textured mouthfeel, and tremendous longevity. A very complex tea with a ton of depth, I could see how this tea might be overwhelming or confusing to some, but I have been drinking Yunnan moonlight white teas off and on for somewhere between five and six years now, and it hit pretty much all of the right notes for me. This was an incredible offering and one that demanded to be brewed in a long, slow gong fu session in order to get the most out of it. This was quite simply my kind of white tea and a reminder that I need to come back to certain types of tea more frequently.

Since I have made the decision to stay up tonight and have not posted anything in several days, I’m forcing myself to be productive and crank out another review. I am dipping much further into my backlog than I have been recently for this one, as I finished what I had of this tea either during the summer or fall of last year. Looking back over the notes I took during my review session, they’re horrible, just all over the place. I have no clue how well this review is going to go, but here it is.

I had no clue how to properly prepare South Korean green tea at the time I set about reviewing this one (still have no clue), so I decided on a multi-step Western brewing process. I started by measuring out 3 grams of loose tea leaves and then steeped them in 8 fluid ounces of 158 F water for 30 seconds. This initial infusion was followed by four others. For the second infusion, I steeped the tea leaves in 8 fluid ounces of 163 F water for 45 seconds. The third infusion lasted 1 minute 15 seconds and was conducted with 168 F water. The fourth infusion lasted 2 minutes and was conducted with 173 F water. The fifth and final infusion made use of 178 F water and lasted 3 minutes.

Prior to the first infusion, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of zucchini, peas, toasted sweet corn, cucumber, hay, soybean, and baked bread. After infusion, I found new aromas of grass, summer squash, chestnut, and asparagus. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up gentle notes of zucchini, soybean, grass, peas, toasted sweet corn, chestnut, and summer squash that were balanced by hints of baked bread, hay, minerals, butter, cream, cucumber, and sea salt. The second infusion introduced mineral and butter aromas, as well as a vague vegetable broth-like umami scent. Stronger and more immediate notes of minerals, hay, butter, cream, and cucumber appeared in the mouth along with oat and grilled lemon notes and hints of umami, honey, and sugarcane. The third infusion offered a very vague grassy, vegetal nose with barely detectable lemon and honey presences. The tea liquor turned very creamy and buttery in the mouth with strong mineral notes. I noticed a slightly more prominent umami presence as well as hints of hazelnut, pine, lettuce, and green apple. The fourth infusion again offered a mildly grassy, vegetal nose. This time there was more of a mineral presence in the mouth, but I also noted prominent hazelnut and chestnut flavors and a swell of grass, vegetable, cream, and butter notes on each swallow. The final infusion offered little in the way of a nose and presented heavy mineral notes with very vague creamy, buttery, nutty, and vegetal hints.

This was a unique green tea, and I enjoyed certain characteristics it displayed, but it made for a somewhat uneven drinking experience overall. I can best sum it up by describing it as three more or less great infusions followed by two very disappointing ones. At least that description accurately describes the experience I had with this tea the way I chose to prepare it. Don’t forget that I was not in the best mental state and had no clue what I was doing when I was working my way through what I had of this tea. I’ll just stop here before I get off track. There are certain aspects of my life during this time that I do not want to talk about just yet. I guess this tea was pretty good.