The first thing I can smell from the dry leaves is somewhat ‘sour’ aroma of matcha and lime leaves. After the rinse it is still a little green, but much less so. The dominant smells are those of nuts (walnuts in particular) and burnt sugar with some cream and grape vine in the background. In the empty cup I mostly smell caramel.
The mouthfeel is not great unfortunately. I tried to do both smaller (~4g per 100ml) and bigger (~7.5g per 100ml) leaf to water ratios to test it out and in both cases it was fairly thin. I would characterize it as bubbly and astringent, obviously the infusions with a lot of leaf were much more pronounced on both accounts. After swallowing, I get a strong cooling sensation in the throat as well
Taste-wise I like it, but I wouldn’t say it’s spectacular in any regard. It has a caramel sweetness, ash/fire bitterness, and finishes on a slightly sour note. The astringency takes the center stage most of the time though. The aftertaste is neither strong nor long. It starts off a bit sour and bitter and then turns into and a mix of sweet notes with dry grass.
I found the tea to last really long overall. The 7.5g sample yielded about 1.5 litres in the end, and that’s with me trying to push several infusions beyond what I would normally do, in order to see how the tea reacts. The price is not too high, so if you don’t mind an astringent tea, it might be a good choice.
Flavors: Ash, Astringent, Bitter, Burnt Sugar, Campfire, Caramel, Cream, Grapes, Lime, Sour
