This is an extremely satisfying tea that demands attention, but rewards also casual brews. It might just be the best Darjeeling I’ve ever tried. It induces a pleasant warming sensation throughout my body. Another point in its favour is that it lasts for a very long time, I commonly get 250-300ml per gram of tea.
In dry form, it brings aromas of cape gooseberry, hay, and forest floor. Wet leaves then smell of courgette flowers and strawberry leaves. The liquor has a velvety and slightly numbing mouthfeel, which is engaging, but the tea really shines in its complex, pungent taste with great breadth and protracted flavours.
It is consistently subtly floral and sweet, which is counterbalanced by savoury mineral notes that are almost marine at times. There are also thyme, vanilla flavours and a sour, effervescent finish that leads in to an evolving aftertaste with notes of sorrel, oak wood, grass flowers, and later also carrots and sea buckthorn juice. Towards the end of the session, I find that the tea slowly moves towards a sheng-like profile with more floral bitterness and a sweet/umami of a mushroom broth.
Flavors: Alcohol, Bitter, Broth, Carrot, Floral, Flowers, Forest Floor, Gooseberry, Grass, Hay, Marine, Mineral, Mushrooms, Oak, Soft, Sour, Strawberry, Sweet, Thyme, Vanilla, Vegetal, Zucchini
Wow. This one sounds incredible!