2021 harvest
Typical Indian musky-spicy smell to the dry leaf — sun-warmed hard and dry earth, rosewood, green chillies. Moderate yellow peony aroma given off by a soft sunshine yellow brew. Strong note of yellow peony and thinned honey on the sip. Very clean.
The mouthfeel is fantastic. It starts off filling the mouth and then flows over the sides of the tongue, eliciting a mouth-watering, tingly response. It swallows gently brisk-astringent, not enough to consider the tea drying. It feels playful and supple, thirst-quenching. The overall taste of the tea matches the mouthfeel very well. Delicate and well-rounded flavors that are subtly fruity, floral, woody-spice and hay-herbaceous-vegetal. Very full throatfeel in second steep coupled with a substantial minty-spicy feel in throat and chest. The spice is like the heat of cassia and capsaicin but it’s balanced by a eucalyptus-like cool. Wait, I know! It’s like Indian bay leaf!
I wouldn’t recommend this to beginners since the flavors are tonal and not so apparent (could be construed as tasting like water). For fans of texture and nuance, I would recommend. Overall, bright, sunny, warm, youthful with a knowing edge. This is a great tea that does blur the lines between a white tea and a Darjeeling-style first flush black.
Thanks for introducing a new-to-me company, Natethesnake, via your note for Ketlee’s Indian sheng. I’m looking forward to tasting through a range of tea types including green, white, black, oolong, sheng and a masala chai, representing several tea-producing regions in India. Indian teas I feel pair well with the dry season here in northern California.
Flavors: Astringent, Chili, Earth, Floral, Fruity, Hay, Herbaceous, Honey, Lime, Melon, Mineral, Musk, Peony, Rose, Round, Salt, Smooth, Spearmint, Spicy, Thick, Vegetal, Wood
This company has been on my radar for a while. Looking forward to reading your reviews!