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takgoti sent me this tea, even though I had bought a canister of it for myself! So I figured I’d try her batch first, since it’s “older” than mine.

Yay! Anyway, the dry leaf is absolutely gorgeous. Green and silvery and long and wiry. The dry leaves have a sweet leafy smell. Like sweet hay, in a wonderful way. Not a barn-y, old way.

Anyway, I dumped a tablespoon of this into my pot, and let the steeping begin! The leaves unfurl very prettily, expanding. They’re all completely full leaves, gorgeous and green. I couldn’t wait for the pour. The tea itself smells absolutely delicious, let me tell you. Buttery and a bit of nice vegetal. Like buttered peas, maybe? A bit floral too.

I actually liked this tea a lot better as my cup cooled. On first sip, when it was pretty hot, the flavors didn’t come out as much, and the slight vegetal notes were a bit strong. But as the cup cooled… mmmm. The buttery notes came out as an aftertaste, delicious and creamy. A bit like buttered corn on the cob, maybe, but it’s very subtle. With more of a veggie taste than a white tea.

The upfront of the flavors are highly complex. I doubt I can even begin to put them into words properly. There’s definitely a floral note. It’s very light. There’s also faint nuttiness if I swish the tea around my mouth. Maybe that’s the chestnut? Then there’s the lingering sweetness on the palate, which makes you almost want to eat your tongue. Yes, that sounded bizarre.

The only complaint that I have is that it’s a tad bit astringent. Not anything overwhelming, but there is a bit of dryness to the tongue that comes with each sip. I found that I liked taking breaks between series of sips to almost “refresh” my palate.

But boy, is this tea pretty damned complex. In a wonderful way. It boggles my mind that the tea plants these leaves and buds are harvested from are ancient, and still producing wonderful and delicious teas such as this.

Absolutely NOM NOM NOM. Thank you, takkerz, for sending me this! So yummy!