I can’t quite warm up to this tea. It is clearly of good quality, but I may just have to accept it is not for me. It is mostly the strange combination of heavy bitterness, sticky sweetness and a bright tannic quality that just doesn’t appeal to my palate.
Anyway, here are some notes I wrote down. The smell is very heavy and sweet. I compare it to a mixture of shisha tobacco, swamp vegetation and brown butter. As I mentioned, the overall taste is bitter, sweet and tannic, as well as quite vegetal and refreshing. As for the flavours, I noticed notes of sugarpeas, grass, fresh bay leaf, mediterranean florals and mussels. The last one becomes strong especially in late infusions. In the aftertaste, there are further notes of moss and red pepper (the spice, not the vegetable).
The liquor has medium to light body and soft, powdery and sticky mouthfeel. After swallowing, I get a numbing sensation in the mouth. I can definitely attest to the subtle, yet strong nature of energy of this tea. Since it doesn’t affect consciousness much directly, I found it possible to work while drinking this tea actually.
Flavors: Alcohol, Bitter, Butter, Floral, Grass, Heavy, Moss, Peas, Pepper, Sweet, Tannic, Tobacco, Vegetal
