Well, I guess this is a slightly older note…I’ve completely forgotten I had this tea but luckily it was stored properly! I found this tea a little odd, but it should be noted that I used to like my tea strong and bitter, so obviously I used to overbrew my tea fairly frequently!
This tea smells beautiful dry, fresh and a little smoky and it brewed to a nice light amber color (although it was more green in my first cup). I managed to brew the leaves three times, and I would probably have gotten more successful brews if it wasn’t time for bed. Like the description says, it leaves we’re basically entirely of buds.
The first cup was my favorite. No dryness or astringency, and a very light cup. Not too vegetal or sweet, a night balance. Although others noted a smoky flavor, I didn’t taste it (although I smelled it prior to brewing). The next two cups were….weird. I felt like someone had dropped a piece of a sugar cookie in hot water. Wow, was it sweet!! It kind of reminds me cooked broccoli, still can taste the ‘green’ but has a very sweet finish. Not that it tasted like broccoli per se, but the same idea. The liquid in my cup even smelled like a cookie!
This is probably irrelevant, but worth noting I suppose. I had just finished up a big cup of cookie dough ice cream about an hour prior to drinking the second and third cup. Maybe my palate was skewed? I’m not sure…I know I had a glass a month ago and I don’t remember the overwhelming sweetness. But then again, my palate has developed a lot over the last month. I definitely need to try this again, but as of now…I’m not too thrilled with it. Likely because I’m only recently accepting the fact that tea can be enjoyed NOT bitter, and now I’m thrown a naturally sweet tea.
