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There was a time many years ago when I was snorkeling off the coast of a tropical island. Something about a cruise ship group outing involving a sunken ship. I slyly wriggled my hydrophobic self away from the school of us landlubbing flubbers as I often do in these situations (I went through Alcatraz backwards! without wearing those self-guided tour headphones! How edgy!). Doing my own exploration, I floated and bobbed in the warm sea, letting the sun warm my back as the soft waves carried me out. The ocean whispered a lullaby, one of those sung by the sirens of nefarious intent. Oh look at this, how curious. The continental shelf. The rays filtered through the salty emerald suspension, illuminating the last reaches of the inundated sandy coastline before shearing off into the black abyss. This is bliss. I would be ok with dying right now, peering down, down, down.

Wait, no.

Never whisper your deepest stirrings to the sirens. They answer your call, upset that you’ve had thoughts of breaking free from their enchanting chords, transforming sweet notes into an uproarious clang followed by waves of salty terror crashing into your lungs and when, in desperation, you call for help, the only thing that will come out is watery sputters of what you saw and heard, unintelligible to the flippered fools from whom you foolishly floated away, and thrashing cries of “Let me live!”

Never trust the ocean.

Luckily, this is tea. What could go wrong?

Nice sweet floral aroma that is supplemented in the mouth by whipped cream, a lemon high note, some green bean, asparagus, moss, wood, spiciness, mushroom broth. Soft, sweet and round with a moderate yet soft bitterness giving way to both astringency and minty cooling in the throat before depositing a defined and long-lasting baked mango aftertaste. Becomes more floral as the steeps progress then transforms into a buttery, nutty sweetness with a light layer of oily wax lining the mouth. A healthy-looking blend in the spent leaves. Cha qi seemed absent but then I turned into a bit of a wacky caffeinated jester good for creating some Saturday Night Lulz.

Perhaps a bit too sweet for me but I think you can trust immersing yourself in this emerald sea.