A sipdown! (M: 6, Y: 14) Prompt: A least favorite tea I guess.
Okay, I am pretty sure there will be prompt your oldest white tea which would be a great fit, but decided to brew this ball today evening. It was dismal almost two years ago, so finally I decided to gongfu this 10 years old ball. Leafhopper have another ball, I believe, so I hope I am not only one, who finds it disappointing.
I have been using quite hot water, partially as an accident (overheated water, almost boiling) and secondly, I did really long rinse to make the ball fall apart. I even used my fingers to prying it open, which I managed during just before third steep.
But well, taste-wise and aroma-wise it is still very same, though it has been in sealed bag. I never got so dark orange colour as pictured, no matter how long I have been steeping (I have stopped with three minutes mark). Time down there is average steeping time.
It is just plain nothing. There is some hay notes, some weird and muted sweet notes. It’s like drinking steeped hay with drop of honey, which was dissolved in glass of hot water before.
Previous rating was 54. Now, after gongfu steeping, which did not help, I will decrease. Because this was not worth it. I had cheaper loose leaf, which was even better. Or, had some flavour, which could be displeasing, but had it. This was plain… nothing.
