From Daylon R Thomas! Thanks so much! I misspoke the other day when I thought the Charleston Tea Garden was the only American tea grower. NOPE. Here is a lovely leaf grown in Michigan — it looks plenty gold in color, yet looks more crumbly than I usually see. The appearance almost reminds me of Zhen Qu (which I dearly miss.) I first tried this tea a week ago, using a teaspoon and a half in a mug, but I just didn’t think that was enough leaf. So here is a note for two teaspoons. I don’t love using two teaspoons, as this is a pricey leaf (that I’m very grateful Daylon decided to share!) but sometimes two teaspoons is necessary and I think there IS a huge difference in just that 1/2 teaspoon of leaves. It’s richer this time around, while never being astringent, even with a ten minute steep on the third: starchy, with a bit of cocoa, malty, sweet and light in flavor while still having a deep colored brew. Though it’s hard for me to describe, I would say it DOES taste like a tea grown somewhere atypical, not a typical terroir that I would be drinking, so it’s interesting the flavor is different from a Michigan tea! Very glad I was able to try this.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 2 min after boiling // 3 min steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 10 min steep
Flavors: Cocoa, Malty, Sweet
Zhen Qu was a magnificent tea!