Sipdown, 197. This sample comes to me thanks to Stephanie!
I had a big meatball sub for late lunch, which influenced my tea choice this afternoon. I didn’t want anything too delicate, so I decided that a citrusy grapefruit would be a good palate cleanser. When the water hit this tea I was immediately somewhat surprised by the aroma that wafted up from the cup… very savory and buttery scented! After steeping the allotted time, it has a definite scent of grapefruit but not just the fruit, also the scent of the peel, the pith, and the leaves. It smells like a grapefruit tree!
The texture on this is really interesting and kind of weird! My mouth has gone kind of tingly. The first flavor I get I slightly buttery dragonwell, followed by a light but authentic grapefruit. Then the savory dragonwell comes back around and gives it a slightly roasted note, almost like a broiled grapefruit, before the numbing sensation takes over my mouth and I taste nothing. The sensation really reminds me of these particular greens we sometimes eat in Madagascar that we call “numb greens” because they numb your mouth when you eat them.
I have to say, my mouth doesn’t tingle or go numb when I eat a grapefruit, unlike apparently some other people who commented on this. I enjoy it other than the odd tingling, which is really strong enough for me that it masks any aftertaste of actual tea. I think I prefer the fresh, sweet greenness of Lupicia’s Grapefruit Green (sencha base) over the buttery, savory dragonwell here.
Yes, I think it was the tingle that really threw me off. I just couldn’t get into it! I’m glad you enjoyed it though. That Lupicia sencha grapefruit sounds good too!