I got this in the mail today with other teas I ordered, some new and some replenishing favorites. I opened all my tea packets and sniffed each in turn trying to figure out which one I wanted to drink this evening. I ended up picking this one out of the bunch.
It smells like winter. There is no other way to really explain it other than winter. Maybe it’s the juniper berries? But it’s been cold out and rained a little and I think there was some sleet in the mix too, but it was cold and this called out to me.
Western-style this brews a rich, dark almost murky reddish brown color. I can smell mostly the juniper berries, but there’s also the underlying musky earthy richness of the puerh. This tastes good, the flavors blend seamlessly. The coriander brings out the natural sweet cinnamon of the puerh. The tulsi and juniper add to the earthy muskiness. The chrysanthemum brings out the hint of floral and add depth to the earthiness of the tea. I can still taste sweet caramel and raisin from the puerh through all the added notes.
It sounds like a lot but it all does well together, they play nice together. No one note overrides the others. Even though I brewed this western style I’m still getting a lot of steepings out of this. Granted it’s not 10 or more, but I’m at 7 and the flavor is starting to fade and get weaker, so, I’ll probably stop after this one. But it still holds up well western-style.
I have noticed that in the 6-7 steepings that the coriander starts to stand out more and it reminds me of Old Bay spice for seafood. I found that odd and interesting. Even with that weird anomaly, I like this tea. If there are teas that just seems like they’re great for winter, this is definitely one of them.
