I’m brewing this a little bit hotter than I was last yesterday, but it isn’t suffering in the least. I’ve been experimenting with temperatures for this and for the coconut pouchong in the hopes that I can figure out what produces the best balance of steep flavor and longevity through multiple steeps. Not quite finished doing that, but I am drinking an awful lot of both of them lately.
Yesterday I think I must’ve had approximately a bucket of this while I was sitting and writing, which is interesting — of the teas I ordered when I placed my Full Size Order from Golden Moon, this was the one I was most ambivalent about. The aroma of the steeping brew is still cause for an arch of the eyebrow; it’s pungent, woody, musky and floral all at once. My original note still stands — every flavor they describe on the label is immediately discernible in the final brew. The leaves — which are gorgeous, by the way, varying in color from black to a rich chocolate brown with silvery tips — produce what strikes me as being a rather complex cup of tea. In fact, sipping on it, it seems completely bizarre to me that this tea is unflavored…the uniqueness of the taste and the very distinctive character that it has for me is the source of some small amazement. Teas like this remind me to be astonished that all ‘tea’ — as far as white, green, oolong, pu-erh, and black — is derived from the same exact species of plant.
Giving this a big rating bump retroactively. Yesterday’s binge proved it well-earned.
