This will be my second go with this tea. I wasn’t at all sure of it the first time I tried it, but my tastebuds may have been off as I got the flu fairly soon afterward. That’s the reason I haven’t been around here much lately. It just seemed to linger and linger, and I didn’t feel up to drinking anything but “plain” (read: Twining’s English Breakfast) tea for a long time. Anyway, I’m back now.
This one got a rinse in boiling water, prior to the first steep proper. The dry leaves were fairly dark, long and wiry. There were some silvery buds evident. Once rinsed and steeped, the leaves are a lot greener in colour, and a lot larger across now that they’ve unfurled. No wiriness here any more! The main scent I’m picking up is mushroom, and a little fresh-turned earth.
First steep: I went with the sachet parameters again, and gave the whole sample 5 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is an orangey-amber, and smells brothy, like mushroom soup. It also tastes like mushroom soup, and is heavily astringent. Nigh on undrinkable, actually. I really do feel like I’m doing completely the wrong thing with this one, so I’m going to try something different for successive steeps. A much lower steep time, at least.
Second steep: Right, so. I let the water cool a little this time, to around 180 degrees, and I used a much shorter steep time (40 seconds). I at least feel like I’m not abusing the tea this way, and I get a cup that I can actually drink.
The liquor this time is a medium yellow-gold. The mushroom scent still remains, and mushroom is still the main flavour I can pick out. There’s a slight earthiness, too, like freshly dug compost. There’s a flavour in the background that I can’t quite put my finger on, but it’s almost sweetish. I’d like to say vanilla, but I don’t think that’s quite right. I’m not horrified, though, and this one at least is a cup I’ll be able to finish.
Third steep: Again, 40 seconds in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The liquor is yellow-gold again, and lighter in flavour than the previous steeps. Mushroom is still the most prominent flavour, although it’s more subdued now. I can also pick out apricot in the background (I think that’s the sweetness I could detect before, but it’s clearer now that the mushroom has faded a little).
I still think this one is an odd duck, and I’m going to stop my steeps here once again. Life’s too short to drink tea that doesn’t make you happy, and while this one doesn’t make me unhappy, exactly, it doesn’t make me smile much either. I’ll stick to mushroom soup for my funghi fix in the future! Rating unchanged.
