I love the look of the dry leaf. So delicate, thin (wispy?), and dark. The leaf smell is cocoa and light grass. Add water and the leaf turns green and expands nicely. The liquor is green and the aroma, for reasons I can’t explain, once again reminds me of the beach.
Today, I am having this with homemade peanut butter cookies. What a great combination. It brings out and intensifies flavors I don’t remember catching before. The primary one being a dark rich roastiness. I recall this having a bit of bite but the cookie pretty much negates that aspect of the sip.
Cup two and three without the cookies and we are back to a pleasant amount of bite without the roastiness, but with a lot of vegative flavor.
I am glad I got to try this tea at this point in my journey. Not long ago, in my flavored tea bag days, I would have blown right passed this and never noticed or appreciated its complexity. I find Xin Yang Mao Jian to be a very enjoyable cup.
