o Quantity: Half the sample packet/110 ml
o Water temperature: 90°C
o 5 infusions: 30, 30, 45, 45, 60 sec
Stream of consciousness notes (ie. Don’t think too much, don’t care about grammar, just write what you are experiencing as you experience it.)
o Dry leaf aroma: aroma is powerful, immediately, expansive, dark chocolate covered raisins, very sweet caramel, a faint amount of floral. when allowed to air out more, a chocolate flavored sugar candy arrives at the forefront
o Dry leaf aroma in heated gaiwan: dark chocolate covered raisins – so incredibly sweet, though almost single noted
o 3 sec wash
o Throat: semi-sweet chocolate, caramel, then fades into creamy milk chocolate – very sweet and a bit warm in its sweetness, a faint amount of pecan
o Wet leaf aroma: prunes mixed with milk chocolate, faint amount of wet bark
o Liquor color: light to medium brown, leaning more red than yellow, it has a bit of opaqueness to it
o Liquor aroma: intensely soft creamy milk chocolate, dried fruits, small amount of chocolate covered raisins, larger amount of caramel. the sweetness is not overwhelming
o Taste: creamy milk chocolate first, hint of floral in the middle, ends with dark chocolate covered raisins and a bit of cream. raisin and milk chocolate notes linger longest. oily and slightly creamy mouthfeel, expansive in the mouth, throat is refreshing and length is long, no astringency at all, no notes of typical roasting
o 2nd infusion liquor aroma: almost no noticeable degeneration in aroma, a sakura (cherry blossom) note is present now that mingles with the rest.
o 2nd infusion taste: first cream and milk chocolate and then a small amount of chocolate covered raisins, middle of sip has a note of creamy honey, mouthfeel is more creamy than oily, no astringency, long length, coats mouth in milk chocolate and faint amount of raisins, raisin note seems to get stronger towards the end of the sip
o 3rd infusion liquor aroma: very very slight degeneration. Otherwise the notes are the same as the previous infusion.
o 3rd infusion taste: addition of hot water aroma, notes of chocolate covered raisins are most prominent, mouthfeel is less creamy, first hit is milk chocolate, caramel, and raisins which moves to chocolate covered raisins that expand in the mouth, length is still long, no astringency
o 4th infusion liquor aroma: almost identical to steep three’s aroma
o 4th infusion taste: chocolate covered raisins and cream hit first, the candy note lingers longest and the addition of milk chocolate comes in the middle and fades into the candy note, not incredibly complex, mouthfeel is thinning out, no astringency, length is long
o 5th infusion liquor aroma: degeneration increases a bit but still just as sweet and soft
o 5th infusion taste: hot water note hits first and then chocolate covered raisins, cream and milk chocolate hits in the middle. the milk chocolate lingers longest. the throat is more refreshing, no astringency, mouthfeel is creamy, body is medium to thin
Though only five infusions are suggested, I went ahead and did two more infusions. The first was for two minutes the last was for three minutes and thirty seconds.
o 6th infusion liquor aroma: aroma has the addition of liqueur to it
o 6th infusion taste: notes very similar to the fifth infusion
o 7th infusion taste: all notes are the same as the sixth infusion, however, they are all muted, it could still be considered a steep, but an incredibly light one.
o Final thoughts: Incredibly unusual in a positive way, the chocolate covered raisin note mixed with the warmth of the sweetness is something that is not common
This one was my favorite!