As many light fermentation ripes, this is an unusual tea that bears a lot of similarities in profile to light roast coffee. It is rough and earthy despite being mildly aged already – wet piled in 2013. The flavours are pretty strong and varied. It could age into a very smooth, complex, and elegant tea, but it might need a decade or two to get there.
The aroma at the moment is quite unique with notes of yellow apple, wood, candlewax, and light smoke. Taste-wise, it is also a mix pulling in various directions. It is bitter, vegetal, sour, savoury, and herbaceous all at once. Flavours are hard to pin down, but I can taste citrus, dry earth, turmeric, mint, wood, and cranberry at times. The aftertaste is a little fishy, sweet, and spicy. There are notes of nuts, coffee, fenugreek (both leaves and seeds), milk, and rock sugar.
The liquor texture is initially very mouth-watering and smooth, but gets more numbing and a little powdery later on. All in all, it’s a unique tea that’s priced well and can offer a specific experience given the right mood – I wouldn’t mind owning a brick of it.
Flavors: Apple, Bitter, Citrus, Coffee, Cranberry, Earth, Fishy, Herbaceous, Herbs, Milk, Mint, Nuts, Sour, Spices, Sugar, Sweet, Umami, Vegetal, Wood
