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I will always remember my last session with this because I drank with intent, outside, standing in our backyard and facing the setting sun as Spring’s clockwork winds and trails of incense whipped around me. I asked for help and sent my love out into the world, tipping my bowl toward the sun as an offering and letting the liquid soak the ground at my bare feet. Cheesy, maybe, but it felt damn good as chills of acknowledgement from nature coursed through me.

A windfall occurred the next day, and my boyfriend and I are moving rural next month to an immaculate old house and property, no further than 15 minutes from Kiki. My younger brother is getting married next weekend in Ohio and I fly out on Thursday. This is a time of joy and I am present for it.

Special tea. Soothing, deep and meditative. I am grateful for the experience.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Very easy to drink.

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.

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.