I steeped this according to package directions — a bit hotter and a bit longer than I would for a green tea. The package says this is a green tea in one place and a yellow tea in another, but the consensus online seems to be this is a yellow tea.
I haven’t had that many yellow teas, but the ones I’ve had seem more like green teas than anything else.
This one, though, looks like a white tea — like a silver needle. The leaves are long and twisty when dry, and take up so much room in the spoon (with a lot of air in between) that I decided to weigh rather than rely on a spoon measurement.
This tea has received a lot of love on Steepster in the past so I’m excited to try it.
In the packet, the leaves have a smell that sometimes comes across to me as rice, and sometimes as nutty, but in both cases with a tinge of sweetness.
The tea is basically colorless and clear. If I look really hard, I can make out a rose-yellow tint. I get very little aroma from the steeped tea which is puzzling given that a lot of other notes seem to get a honey, or butter, or sweet rich nectar. I get, weirdly, some sweetness and something that reminds me of vanilla. This might be the honey/nectar others smell.
Sadly, I also don’t get a lot of flavor out of this tea. Maybe for the same reason I have a hard time with white teas — I often feel cheated. Where others taste all kinds of miraculous things, I taste faintly sweet or vegetal hot water. Perhaps my palate requires a more in your face flavor? Or perhaps I’m steeping this wrong.
I’m tempted to amp up everything next time (leaf, water temp, and steeping time) and see if it makes a difference.
But right now this tea is making me sad because everyone loves it and it’s doing nothing for me.
Sob.
Flavors: Nectar, Nuts, Rice, Vanilla
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I generally overleaf whites in order to get enough flavour out of them. It’s always a treat when I do, but I’ve certainly had my fair share of cups of “did I even put the infuser in this?” sadness.
I used 5 grams — next time I’ll bump it up and see if that helps.
I generally overleaf whites in order to get enough flavour out of them. It’s always a treat when I do, but I’ve certainly had my fair share of cups of “did I even put the infuser in this?” sadness.
I used 5 grams — next time I’ll bump it up and see if that helps.