first time trying this tea, but today has been a long day; i’ll have to give it a more attentive session later.
cake smells fruity and delicious.
followed brewing instructions except for leaf:water ratio. finding it pleasant in spite of my deviance. ;) first couple of steeps very faintly smoky, notably vegetal. on the second steep, starting to feel a little of that weird juicy bitterness that i’m starting to associate with purple tea. just a hint, though. inside of the gaiwan lid smells very slightly hay, very slightly dried fruits, somewhat smoky. i’m liking how solid the “midrange” of the tea feels. almost a minty butteriness near the end of the sip, as well? i am not good at descriptors (yet?).
third steep adding some astringency in a nice, mouth-throat-cooling-feeling way.
further steeps in a similar vein, with bulk of the flavour being slightly buttery, faintly roasty vegetal, and leaving a tingly cool feeling around the back edges of my tongue.
leaves are a beautiful dark blue-green in the gaiwan.
Flavors: Roasted, Vegetal