Iron Buddha

Tea Thoughts Winter Countdown: Day 12

I’ve been holding off on drinking this one till I had ample time to enjoy it. This morning I had some quiet time to myself before the animals awoke and required my attention, so I settled in for a readin’ and steepin’ session!

Mmm. I’m only a couple of steeps in (and I’ve already been interrupted by the furred ones), but I’m really enjoying this one so far. It’s super toasty and grainy, laced with some light mineral notes. It’s got heft without feeling heavy, if that makes sense. Just very cozy!

Adventageddon Day 12

Gongfu!

We’re halfway there, folks! It’s been a couple days without a good gonfu session, and I was both up early enough today and the sun was bright enough to allow for me to indulge in one – and this was the perfect tea to do so.

The liquor of this tea was actually a surprisingly bright yellow/gold that I felt didn’t totally match the much, much more toasty flavour profile. You could definitely tell this was a TGY with some roast on it from the deeper, nuttier and more mineral notes that popped up. Roasted almond, instant coffee, golden syrup, barley, and a mix of other different toasted grains and cereals. Very cozy, and perfectly aligned with what I woke up craving today.

I got four good steeps and a fifth rather rushed one. Thankfully the sample portion today was generous enough that I will get to have a second session in the future!

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDfpFk7ptSS/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STfu1ZjRv5Y&ab_channel=ColemineRecords

Day 12 of the Tea Thoughts box. Nazanin sourced this specifically for this box, and as far as I can tell is not selling it. Thanks to Roswell Strange for adding it to the database! Confession: I actually opened this one in advance and enjoyed it over the weekend so I could gong fu and savor it. I got two sessions out of the 14g in the packet. Probably could have split it up better and gotten 3 sessions, but I was eyeballing it.

The dry leaf smells very roasted and mineral. For some reason it specifically made me think of the smell of iron. Which, duh, tracks. The first steep definitely has that roastiness to it, but not as strong as the aroma of the dry leaf. This reminds me a lot of tieguanyin, and that’s because it is the same thing. I guess I had never seen this specific name for it before? I was literally sitting here wondering what the difference is between Iron Buddha and tieguanyin. A quick internet search revealed that there’s none, it’s the same thing, I just didn’t know that. I got what felt like endless steeps out of the leaf, with a pretty consistent flavor profile throughout. Eventually I stopped because I was trying not to over-caffeinate but it still kept me awake until almost 3am. The second time, I cut myself off earlier in the day in the interest of sleep!