Sipdown! Thanks for a sample of this one, Raritea!
Immediately after I steeped this one, it seemed apparent that I either overleafed or oversteeped, as I was getting an astringent, metallic aroma from the brewed cup. Bleh. However, I tried some anyways, and it seems that those aromas are just part of the tea – perhaps I didn’t brew it perfectly, but it’s definitely not nearly as screwed up as I would have thought! The flavour is kind of a brothy, almost smoky vegetal green, with a twist of sweetness at the end of the sip. This is not chewy Laoshan Green vegetal though, more of a… cruciferous vegetable sort? It’s also a touch seaweedy/mariney, which aren’t notes in Laoshan Green. There’s some astringency as well, but as Raritea mentioned, it fits ok here. I still prefer my teas to be as astringency-free as possible, but this is quite tolerable.
Overall, I’m actually reasonably impressed by this one. Primarily because of the lingering sweet aftertaste, most likely, which is a hallmark of a tasty green tea, to me. I’d certainly happily drink this again – I feel like it would be a great accompaniment to a meal, as it’s fairly flavourful and tasty. We’ll see how it fares overnight next to my bed… I brought up way too many teas to finish them all off (so left a couple sips of this one). Most greens do quite poorly when left to sit, but the for the occasional one, it works!
ETA: Second infusion way too astringent. I have yet to figure out the sweet spot for second infusions of green teas :(
