teaplz

SECOND STEEP OF IT, yay!

Or actually, really, nay. BLECH. What is going on with this tea. I brought the time up to three minutes, and watched the leaves completely unfurl. Very pretty! The leaves are all completely intact, and beautiful. I love it when I see leaves like this in my teapot. It’s the plant itself, and then you realize how wonderfully connected to the earth tea is, and then you wax poetic on the universe and life itself.

ANYWAY, the tea this time was a slight shade darker than the first, and I’m getting a real earthy smell from the cup. A little bit of spinach, but not completely overly-green. On first taste… yeah, I’m making a face and recoiling visibly from the cup. It’s even more minerally than before, and the sweetness seems to have vanished. There’s this really off-putting bitterness to it as well. Not even the usually tea-bitter taste that sometimes comes along with blacks. Just the base flavor of bitter on your tongue.

Surprisingly enough, this cup isn’t as astringent as the first, but there’s really no reason to continue drinking this one. I’m not getting salty, but I am getting the oceanic taste that Auggy described on her tasting note. I think it’s a seaweed flavor in this. Bitter and briny. It almost tastes like liquid sand from the beach in a cup, if that makes any sense.

I actually don’t think I can finish this cup, but I’m going to try. But the leaves are already in the garbage. There’s no way I’m trying a third steep of this!