I sort of feel like I’ve become the official secretary for the Reserve Club: taking & uploading photos of tea, typing in David’s comments. I’m been placing them in the Verdant (Special) folder. I didn’t create that folder, but it seems like the right place to put them.
This tea has large & full, irregularly twisted leaves in colors of mahogany, brown, & Black. It looks wild & appealing.
The dry aroma was a little tart & reminded me of pickled plums (Umeboshi). I heated my Gaiwan, put the dry tea in there to warm up, smelled it again, & it was of tart plums & carob. After the rinse, it smelled of grape peels, & a toasty earthy wine.
The early steepings of this were tart, like a plum wine with a little smoke added. A nice fruity taste lingers after you swallow it!
In successive steepings the flavors continued to develop: Rich, warming, sweet, a little toasty.
The later steepings included a rock taste & a hint of chocolate.
