3 Tasting Notes
I seriously love this stuff. And not just because it’s got an extraordinary amount of caffeine (which I find valuable in a tea, dangit – just not the make or break element of it). Open the wrapper and smell hay in the sun. I loooooooove the smell of hay. The liquor is thick and sweet, though not in a sugar sweet way, but that same hay sweetness… and maybe some date. I can drink this hot, or (gasp!) iced. It’s fabulous, either way, and everyone I’ve served it to has enjoyed the heck outta it.
The first time I tried this tea was at a local Taiwanese restaurant – the server is a terrific dude in the local tea community and he gave us a pot to try while we ate. Hooked me immediately, and hard – he kept adding boiling water and it kept tasting amazing. There’s no over steeping – it doesn’t get bitter, though maybe a touch astringent and strong like bull!
I don’t really measure when I make a lot of my tea, so the below is a guesstimate. I tend to use more leaf and less steeping time. Impatient, much?
I bought 3 cakes. Two are in storage right now, but they won’t be staying there for the super long term.
I might have to buy 3 more if I actually do want to see how they store long term.
Flavors: Raisins
Preparation
A simple, mild green (a mao jian?). The description on the can seems pretty accurate – I’d give it a very mild nuttiness, not terribly vegetal – more sweet and green. The tea tin mentions this is “brighter and milder than Gunpowder,” but I wouldn’t use gunpowder as any sort of comparison – there are no ashy or roasted notes (I don’t like gunpowder).
I think it would be great for introducing people to green teas.
Preparation
Honestly, this is a terrific everything tea, just as the shop description suggests. I bought it to use for iced tea, as I wanted to try something besides the grocery store standbys. It was perfect.
I also used it for a tea party, where we hosted 30 people with 3 different teas. This tea is hard to screw up – it always came out tasty and many people really enjoyed it.