I’m coming to the end of my Bana Tea samples (it’s only taken me 6 months) and here is one I haven’t reviewed yet!
After my first quick rinse (5 seconds or so), I steeped this in my infuser mug for around 1- 2 minutes, I lost track… the wet leaves smell very strongly of coffee, wet earth and have a roasted aroma.
The tea liquor is dark brown with a ton of earthiness. I have missed you, pu-erh! waaaah! This has a shiitake mushroom flavor to me, and is extremely sweet and thick with a sweet, fruity aftertaste like plums with dark chocolate – awesome! I’m using less water than I would to make a normal cup of tea and about 1 tsb. of leaf to make it more of a gaiwan-esque experience.
Emotionally this is a very mellow and relaxing tea. :)
My second steep was a little less time (maybe about 1 minute??) and yielded a slightly lighter but still sweet-ish and earthy tea, very similar to the first steep. Hmm, I think this is one I could leave in my cup and keep drinking all day. A delicious and fortifying shu.
I went back to Bana’s site and it really isn’t that expensive for a tea of this age ($18/50 grams). I might have to pick some of this up when I place another order with Bana – just added to shopping list!
