Steep #2 coming your way!
I figured out how I’m going to organize my logs. The first time that I try a tea and resteep it, each steep will have multiple logs so I can correctly work out how I felt about each steep. Every time after that, though, the resteeps will appear in the same log as the initial steep.
My ratings will always be based on first steep alone. Resteeps that are good are merely extras, add-ons, little gifts my tea is giving to me if they’re good.
Now that that’s out of the way, I found that I was a little disappointed with this second steep. I guess I need to get used to the fact that the tea’s flavors will change and mutate through the multiple steepings. I definitely think that the first cup was a real treat, and while this cup isn’t amazing, it definitely isn’t bad either.
The liquid was around the same color as the first time around, and the smell this time was a bit more… earthy? And floral. The butter component was nowhere to be found, and the wet leaves smelled more vegetal this time.
The initial taste surprised me once again, and the word that popped into my head to describe this one was “reedy.” This steep definitely has an earthier component, something that I wouldn’t call leafy but rather “woodsy.” Some of the flavor notes are even a bit tart and citrus-y, which I found to be pretty bizarre. The sweetness here was only a lingering afternote, not really pronounced and fading much more quickly than the first cup.
Since that delicious nectar-like flavor was pretty much an afterthought in the taste of this cup, and since that’s what I enjoyed the first time around, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first. I’m going to go for a third steep anyway, and see if the flavor profile is more to my liking the next time around.
