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This one is… really bizarre. Another Auggy sample (YAY AUGGY YOU ARE THE BEST!). It’s absolutely adorable when dry. A deep, verdant green rolled into silky, tiny pellets. There are stripes of lighter green in there. I absolutely love the way rolled teas look, and this one is no exception.

The smell is a bit… odd, to say the least. It’s very earthy. Musky, almost. So anyway, I steeped a level teaspoon of this, and watched the show. Rolled teas always like to do the jitterbug, and this one was no exception, for the most part, the leaves looked pretty much intact, but they didn’t completely unfurl with such a short steeping time.

The resulting liquid is actually a bit pale. A bit darker than a while tea, but definitely not super-green. It’s completely clear, and now has a scent that I can’t place. Maybe a bit of wild honey, mixed with a woodsy element. I took the first sip, and wrinkled my brow. This tea is… confusing, and it’s difficult for me to describe the tastes I’m experiencing. Piping hot, the tea gives off a very mineral-like flavor. It’s as if someone has steeped a bunch of rocks for me and given me the resulting brew. And I don’t mean gross rocks, I mean mineral-like rocks. It has that sort of tang to it.

As it cooled, though, this tea got exponentially better. Sweetness started to play a dominant role in the flavor. It’s not exactly the super-sweet that comes from a white tea (that I doubt that the greens will ever match), but it’s natural and refreshing. There’s a slight grassiness that I think I just pick up on in all greats as well. That sweetness that lingers on the tongue is becoming something that I crave in greens and whites. There’s still an earthiness to offset that sweetness, but for the most part, the mineral notes have dissipated.

While the sweet flavor is definitely refreshing, the astringency definitely isn’t. This has to be one of the most astringent teas I’ve ever had. My tongue feels like a desert. Like it wants to crawl out of my mouth, book it for the nearest fountain, and dunk itself repeatedly. I’m definitely going to need to drink something else, because I have sandpaper mouth right now.

Since the leaves don’t look like they fully unfurled themselves, and since Auggy wanted to know how my mileage will be on the second steep, watch for another post later on concerning those results!