I finished the last of a 50 g pouch of this tea Monday, but forgot to post a review. Unfortunately, I also forgot to take notes. I do remember a great deal about my last session, however, so I will attempt to work from memory. I do remember greatly enjoying this tea and found it to be a steal for the price.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose leaf material in 4 ounces of 175 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 13 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, I detected subtle grassy, vegetal aromas and a hint of corn husk. After the rinse, I began to pick up more pronounced scents of grass, hay, squash blossom, seaweed, and fresh spinach. The first infusion produced a similar bouquet with a touch more corn husk, a slight butteriness, and a hint of chestnut. In the mouth, I detected gentle impressions of grass, hay, corn husk, spinach, seaweed, chestnut, and squash blossom. Subsequent infusions brought out a nectar-like sweetness, as well as minerals, pine nuts, corn silk, asparagus, and garden peas. The later infusions were heavy on minerals, though I could detect subtle seaweed, corn husk, butter, grass, and hay notes in places.
Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting all that much from this tea, but it ended up impressing me. For the price, this was excellent. I would have no issue recommending it to anyone looking for a flavorful, unique green tea.
Flavors: Asparagus, Butter, Chestnut, Corn Husk, Garden Peas, Grass, Hay, Mineral, Nectar, Pine, Seaweed, Spinach, Squash Blossom, Straw