Sipdown (133)!
Had brunch this morning with my Dad, Step Mom and nephew – they were all in town for a wedding (relative I’ve never even met, so I wasn’t invited). It was a really nice time; I’m finding increasingly that I’m getting along better and better with my family now that I’ve moved out and don’t have to interact with them daily.
We stopped at McNally Robinson to look around and my nephew got some weird science toy were you make a jello brain, my Dad got a book on Western Canadian Birds and another on bird watching (one of his new hobbies, I’m told; his age is showing), and I picked up a game called Sushi Go! (which I saw on this week’s Tabletop) and another tea-themed book. I’ve spent the last few hours reading it only to look up at the clock and realize that all this precious tea reviewing time is slipping right past me!
And so here we are…
I actually finished this over a week ago; it’s just been sitting in my queue waiting for me to get to the review. Finishing this off was definitely a sad day; I really liked this one. Like, instantly – the moment I popped open that sample packet I was drawn in to the aesthetic of the tea leaves, and then the smell as it brewed, and finally the delicious, heavenly liquor just sealed in the obsession.
This last session was just two infusions in a Gaiwan, though Western style not Gong Fu. The first was very malty, with definite cocoa, honey and sweet potato notes. Just faintly bitter/astringent at the end of the sip but in a really pleasant way. The second infusion was smoother; same notes but with a richer, more prominent sweet potato flavour. It was also a bit fruitier; stone fruit notes being the ones which jumped out the most. They did something neat where it was almost like the ‘bounced’ off the tip of my tongue.
I absolutely adore this tea and I really hope to get it stocked at some point soon; just need to figure out some other things I want to grab from Teavivre first ‘cause I’m not at the point of obsession where I’ll place an order for a single tea…