This one was a gift, so not a tea I would normally choose myself…
First impression – Dry leaf different than the bundled little rolls that I so enjoy. Almost looks like the leaves were chewed on a bit, mushed into a compressed little shape and then left to dry. But in a nice way. The smell is rather strong and vegetal, not the kind of tea that makes me want to stick my nose in the bag and inhale for days.
Once steeped, the smell is a lot stronger and doesn’t captivate me, but : the liquor is the most amazingly beautiful pale pale lime green! (There is now a strong war going on between this and Mother’s Little Helper in terms of prettiest tea in my clear mug. ) The unfurled leaves are wonderful and make me want to be a photographer.
Flavour First steep, nude, and with no expectations, this tea has as strong a flavour as its smell. Fairly astringent, light-medium bodied and vegetal, Tie Kwan Yin is nice, but a tad too… something for me to fully enjoy. I’m left searching for the floral notes that are mentioned everywhere.
Loveability I’ll see how this one feels in the next two steeps, and I’ll try playing around with a touch of sweetness, but I don’t this is a tea I would ever crave or buy again. Would be a pleasant “company” tea, though.
