I woke up with a very nice cup of 52teas’ Butterbeer and then remembered that I had meant to brew up a new tea. Whoops! So after having a second cup of Butterbeer, I washed out my tea paraphernalia and began anew with this sample from Kittenna.
The brewed tea aroma smells strongly of nori (seaweed). The taste is a fresh, spring green and luckily not grassy. I’m surprised this tastes so wonderful considering it’s a rather old sample and hasn’t been stored in ideal conditions. But it tastes great! No bitterness or astringency. Just a nice nori flavor.
The description on Verdant’s website describes this as sweet and juicy with citrus lime notes and a creamy grassiness reminiscent of matcha. I’m definitely getting all of that! Although I do have to say that in my opinion, it’s more sweet/juicy/citrus than creamy/grassy/matcha-like. Which is a good thing for me because I’m not 100% sure that I like matcha yet. But a sweet, juicy, fresh, spring green?? Oh yes!
On to steep number two at 175 degrees for 2 minutes. Hmm, maybe I should have let it steep just a little bit longer. I can still detect nori, but it’s much quieter now. I am getting a bit more creaminess than in the first cup. For steep #2.5, I tried putting the tea back in the second cup for another minute, but that was definitely a mistake. It brought bitterness to the forefront of the sip, although the aftertaste retained its lovely nori self. I won’t hold that against the tea though. It’s my fault for shoddily infusing it.
On to steep number three! I’ll try 175 degrees for 2.5 minutes. Success! This third cup is back to the perfection of the first. Not a trace of bitterness to be found. Mmm, yum! This is such a lovely tea. I’ve had a very relaxing Sunday. I slept till noon, laid around all day with my kitty cat watching Halloween movies, and now I’m enjoying a truly wonderful tea from Verdant. Thanks for making it possible Kittenna!!!
