Geez, I guess I’m not the only one who hasn’t drank these August teas yet?
OK….here goes…
This is, first off, a gorgeous tea, IMO. It’s real delicate looking, in shades of palest greens, cream, & sage highlights. The smell is of delicate greens & cream. The brewing suggestions are my least favorite green tea brewing method: fill a 8oz glass cup with 195 degree water & sprinkle the leaves on top. Start sipping, blowing the leaves away until they sink, add more water as needed. This rarely goes well for me. By the time the first cup is cool enough for me to take a sip, it’s usually very bitter, no matter what tea I use. I’ve tried this method with Jingshan & Dragonwell both, & so I usually use my glass steeper instead.
Since there’s enough of this for me to sample it a couple times, I went ahead & followed the instructions this time. Doing things this way has it’s appeal, of course, because I get to watch the leaves doing their underwater dance, floating up & down in a random dreamlike way. There was a point where all the leaves were laying on the bottom, except for one that was standing on it’s tip, fully unfurled like a sail! Or maybe a seaweed frond.
This first cup was a little rough for me. By the time I was able to sip it, it was fairly potent, green, & kind of bitter. Then I started noticing the taste of lavender, which is a little out there for me, but ok. Each time I added water to the cup the flavors got a little milder, the 3rd of 4th cup has kind of a citrus flavor. I ended up enjoying it ok, although next time I’ll return to steeping in the test tube.
