Sweet Roast Green Tea (Dark)

Backlog from yesterday – my birthday tea!

I woke up and my stomach was really upset for some reason. This always steers me toward green teas or mint teas, and I saw this first so into the infuser it went.

I still think the directions on this are really confusing – they say 5 grams to one quart, which is what – 1/2 tsp. to a cup? Still at boiling for two minutes. I can do the boiling water and the 2 minute steep time (hesitantly!) but anything less than 1 tsp. would surely be too weak for me.

I went with the 1 tsp. and yeah, I can’t imagine doing less leaf – as it was I got a light vegetal green but I think it would have been little more than tinted water if I’d followed that recommended amount. This was very soothing and there were some roasted undertones that did give it an oolong-ish character. I had this with honey in Hawaii, but yesterday it was just plain and it was more than drinkable.

It is unlike any tea I’ve had before – I don’t know if that’s because it was grown in such a unique climate or what, but I’m going to be sad when my small sample is gone. Guess I’ll just have to move there so I get it more frequently! :)

thanks for this freebie in our swap, Marcel Duchamp! This one looks very odd because it looks like leaves you would find a tree, crumpled up. Not what a green tea actually looks like! I don’t think I’ve had a green tea like this before. I cooled the water for a half hour and went with a three minute steep: The flavor is very vegetal at first, but then as it cools (or you get to the bottom of the cup) it gets nuttier and sweeter. I was thinking of a buttery green today, so I guess I should have had sencha, but this is certainly not disappointing (except for maybe the non-buttery aspect). It looks different than a usual green tea but the taste is the same!