I enjoyed this quite a lot! When I first was opening the various bags my brother sent me from China, this one surprised me most! It’s a type of tea I haven’t experienced before and the pure visual of it caught me off guard at first. I pinched out a sampling for the photo I took, and was surprised at just how soft and downy the leaves were. They are also quite larger than I was used to in general.
One of my first thoughts of the appearance, which was incidentally repeated by a friend after she saw the picture, was that the leaves look a bit like grasshoppers! After tasting this tea, I feel like that visual consideration almost has an effect on the flavor of the tea. Yes, I know that sounds weird, but hear me out!
My first infusion of this tea yielded a nice mild yellow liquor. The aroma was mild and sweet. The first sip took me to a dewy spring morning with the fresh new growth of wild grasses. Every proceeding cup and infusion only served to enhance this feeling for me.
There was a light sweet flavor niggling at the back of my mind that I couldn’t quite place. All I could think of is that it reminded me of sweet grass. Of being a kid playing in a field where sweet grass grows. And every now and then, you pick a stalk and chew the end in a Mark Twain-esque moment. Something about the flavor eludes me in such a way as to require this kind of description!
It will be fun to try this again to see if I can put my finger on the flavor. Additionally, my brother noted that this tea ages well, so I think I’m also going to stash at least some of it away to age for future tasting!
