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I unscientifically weighed this in my uncontrolled kitchen environment on my small digital scale, and I found this ball to be 8.33 grams, compared to vendor’s promise of 7 grams. So I have some extra gas here!

Excited to try this, as I have recently enjoyed experimenting with the bitter Campari liquer in various cocktails, and found this to be a rewarding experience, so let’s bring on the bitter!

1st steep – 205° in 16 oz water for 1 minute – nothing much going on here. No real bitterness, not any sweetness, no aroma, no florals, etc. Just some barebones vague “teaness” here. Maybe I should have done a rinse or had a longer first steep. Will adjust next time, as I have four of these minis to play with.

2nd steep – 195° in 16 oz water for 2 minutes – Okay, here it is – pretty much a one-note chewing-on-crushed-aspirin type of bitterness. The brew is a noticeably cloudy looking amber color. Not too appealing, with maybe kind of a chalky texture. The bitterness is strong, but I wouldn’t consider it “mind-bending.” Might have been disappointing or annoying if I wasn’t expecting it. So far, I don’t notice any “returning sweetness” or really anything else but the aspirin.

3rd steep – 195°in 16 oz water for 3 minutes – More aspirin. The liquor is clearer now, with a better texture. Nothing else seems to be going on still apart from the aspirin flavor. I’m hoping to find a reward somewhere for hanging in there.

4th steep – 195° in 16 oz water for 5 minutes – Still got that aspirin thing going on, but it does seem to be fading in power and liquor color is still clearer and even better texture. But I don’t really notice any rewards for hanging in here.

5th steep – 195° in 16 oz of water for 5 minutes – I went ahead and gave this a 5th brew, because it seems to have some more “gas.” It’s a lazy Saturday at home, so why not? Fun to experiment with a new tea for most of the day. The aspirin has now very much faded and there is kind of the lingering elements of a basic raw pu-erh here, maybe something more akin to the 941 blend I tried a couple of days ago. I don’t really find this one too rewarding so far. I’m thinking perhaps I should try “flash steeps” as recommended by the vendor or change it up in other ways with the remaining minis, and I suspect maybe there is more here to discover.

Difficult tea to rate – If you are looking for a bitter, aspirin-like tea, then hell yes, I recommend this one to you. Otherwise, I would say no at this point. I guess I could maybe rate it a 75, as it clearly does what is promised. This tea is about the bitterness. I would rate it higher if I could find some other things going on, like some nice florals or some sweet elements.