1550 Tasting Notes
The last of the Ethereal Flight from Breakaway Matcha.
It doesn’t make the biggest foam but dang does the rest of the cup make up for it. At first sip it’s floral and dark blue-green aquatic but then turns to bright and succulent young grass. As it passes over my palate, it becomes darker and tangy with salad greens, like a bit of sorrel has shown up. This is where I notice a soft siltiness to the texture mixed with a touch of creaminess, both of which provide some intrigue. And then the finish! All along the matcha tastes very clean but in the finish it’s even cleaner. That slight tang morphs between an indecipherable fruity sweetness and the lightest mushroom umami breaks through (I’m gonna have to agree with chanterelles).
This is probably my favorite of the sampler :) Blend Hikari is umami-rich, though while elegant in its expression, it has only called to me when I’ve had a craving for that hearty profile. Blend Daphne also is a really beautiful matcha but best kept for whimsical afternoons or meditation. Blend Jizo is more of a daily, anytime sipper. This one, Blend Satoshi, has a dynamic complexity that I really appreciate and its energy seems to suit both mornings and afternoons equally well.
Flavors: Clean, Creamy, Floral, Fruity, Grass, Mushrooms, Salad Greens, Smooth, Soft, Tangy
Spring 2023 harvest
Dry leaf: tangerine, passionfruit and cherry, indolic and fleshy white florals, vegetal undertone
Aroma: moderate with a sugarcane sweetness, rich florals, orchid, golden raspberry, milky
Taste: less impressive than the dry and warmed leaf. The base tea tastes stale with dried clumps of cut grass. It is slightly milky but more noticeable is the dry, mineral taste. More vegetal than fruity compared to the dry and warmed leaf scents. Certainly floral with a mix of fleshy white flowers, orchid and at times something aquatic like water lily. Short and mild milky sweetness. The energy is more caffeinating than relaxing, which is not what I desire in flower-scented teas.
I would like to try this fresh but the base tea quality doesn’t seem that great. The magnolia orchid, or white champaca, scenting is lovely, though.
Flavors: Cherry, Cut Grass, Dry, Floral, Gardenias, Magnolia, Milky, Mineral, Orchid, Passion Fruit, Stale, Sugarcane, Vegetal
Preparation
I enjoy how this tea captures of the idea of a ginger cola. It has this caramel-type scent that I’m not digging too much but I love that some lemon-lime pokes through, giving it the soda feel. The ginger is the perfect touch — secondary to the cola but with enough zip to let its presence be known. Overall, it’s a pretty light-bodied tea and not necessarily sweet in taste but more dry, which I like. It does develop a bit of a bitter-tannic bite if left to steep too long.
Flavors: Biting, Caramel, Cola, Dry, Ginger, Lemon, Lime, Spicy
Preparation
Two bags to a pint mason jar in the fridge and forgotten for a few days. Is it possible to like this better cold-brewed than hot? The taste is sweeter and sappier, more expressive and clear. It’s really like drinking a Christmas tree.
Preparation
This tea is way more substantial than Moychay’s description implies and handles boiling water like it was born for it. Reminds me of pressed Fujian white teas so much more than I’d think. Really a treat, especially when the leaves are boiled after being exhausted gongfu.
Thanks for this awesome share, Martin!
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Cream, Fig, Hay, Meadow, Mineral, Mushrooms, Nectar, Orange, Pastries, Sweet, Syrupy, Twigs, Viscous, Yeast
Preparation
Finished a sample of this tea from my own dry storage. Quite different compared to the one that was more humid-stored from mrmopar. Depth and punch are similar but my own is notably greener, more like yerba mate — slight smoke and moderate alkaline savoriness with a strong herbaceous hay-tobacco note, but topped off with a heap of pollen, a chunk of beeswax, and later, a spoonful of apricot jam.
Flavors: Alkaline, Apricot, Beeswax, Dry Grass, Fruity, Hay, Herbaceous, Incense, Jam, Leather, Pollen, Savory, Smoke, Tobacco
An elixir, for sure. I don’t know what to think. I’m not too fond of the smell but I really like ginseng and schisandra for some reason, so I drink. This second serving from the sample packet has too much licorice root. If peppermint weren’t a part of this healthy hag recipe, I don’t know that I’d enjoy it as begrudgingly as I do.
Flavors: Bright, Cooling, Earthy, Ginseng, Hibiscus, Licorice Root, Peppermint, Roots, Sweet, Tangy, Viscous
Very soft with a bright snow pea and grass taste without being overtly vegetal or grassy. A hint of butter. Thick foam. I don’t get an aftertaste; rather, this matcha produces a clean and clear feeling in the mouth. I would emphasize Breakaway’s ethereal and radiant descriptors over their tasting notes.
Certainly fitting on this sunny Easter Sunday but I definitely can’t justify the regular price of $6.97 for a serving (they call 1 serving 1 gram). With the amount of powder I use – I’m guessing 1.5g – that comes out to $10.50 cup. Whoa.
On a side note, having a regular price and a subscription price is such an annoying tactic.
Flavors: Bright, Butter, Clean, Clear, Snow Peas, Soft
2022 harvest
Been sipping on this casually at work. It does really well with the cooler-than-boiling water from the dispenser. Sweet, fruity and floral with tangy aftertaste. Mellow — it doesn’t carry the punch of flavor and aromatics of a previous year’s harvest. More oolong than red tea. Still have to try it out gongfu.
Flavors: Citrus, Eucalyptus, Floral, Fruity, Lemongrass, Licorice Root, Lychee, Malt, Pecan, Persimmon, Round, Smooth, Sweet, Tangy, Viscous
Derk, did you break the dashboard again? :P
Wuyi Origin’s Wild Lapsang is one of my all-time favourite teas.
It wasn’t me, I promise! Though I do think the stall might be related to the server receiving too many tasting note inputs in quick succession such that it gets bogged down and cranky. But I’m not a tech person, so who knows.
Did I give you any of this? I feel like I might’ve. If this tea is one of your all-time faves, have you not given it a glowing review in order to cloak its excellency? ;P Anyway, yeah, it’s real good!
A server overload wouldn’t surprise me. After all, it had to cope with the many tasting notes left over from the previous stall. Steepster’s been really glitchy lately, to say the least!
Daylon first introduced me to this tea, and I actually reviewed it under Trident Booksellers and Cafe instead of Wuyi Origin. Since then, I’ve bought many iterations and I would raise the rating substantially. You did send me some at one point and I think I left a comment thanking you on one of your reviews. :) I also thought I’d written a tasting note on the Wuyi Origin page, but either I didn’t do it or Steepster ate it.
The tech reason that derk suggested seems plausible for me, but honestly; I don’t think that we overload it in any way. It is supposed to be able to handle it.
The tea… sounds just lovely.
