Every Thursday night I go to the Toronto Reference Library to meet up with my writing critique group. The Balzac’s Cafe inside the library is one of the only places I know of in Toronto to stock Mariage Freres’ tea, but I certainly wish this wasn’t the case – I’d love to get more!
I don’t have any info about the steeping parameters (temperature, water/leaf ratio, etc) since I purchased this from the cafe, but here’s what I remember about the first steep I drank this evening:
- Yellow-green liquor that shaded down to light amber as the tea steeped and cooled down.
- Vegetal, but not too grassy. Some of the flavours I picked up in the steep were hay, spinach, and asparagus. Because of this, I suspect that it might be a first-flush tea.
- This tea is rather astringent; as I progressed further into the cup, my tongue got that “dried up” feeling that sometimes comes from astringency.
- This wasn’t particularly brothy, but it was riding the cusp between savory and sweet.
I’d really like to get my hands on a full package of Fuji-Yama, rather than having to get it through the cafe. Even so, this feels like the kind of tea that’s best reserved for special occasions or when you have the time to sip and savour. This is not a “sitting in front of the computer gettin’ shit done” kind of tea!
Bottom line: this tea was so good that I saved my disposable cup and the teabag, and brought the teabag home with me so I can see about resteeping it tomorrow morning!
