Again, sampling a sample as part of a birth year tea selection. Being a young parent is such a strain!
The smell from opening the vacuum foil is a light (as in, not heavy / heady) raisins and cognac. After the second brew the leaves hint of nitrate, which is funny for wild trees. Maybe it is just me expecting the smell. Preceding and subsequent wafts distinctly and consistently yield endives. Endives and green tea — might make a good alternative Christmas menu recipe.
If I do very short and light steeps I can leave most of the bitter in the pot and yield a vegetal, warming green tea. Cha qi is a solid, calming buzz. Very present!
I can definitely see this one develop with time. There is still a lot of bitterness to be transformed, but it is not as coarse as some that I know. Overall, I think of it like a prodigy in puberty: certainly promising, already more refined than its peers but not yet fully formed.
Recommend? Yes, for aging. Is this the birth year tea to stock? Undecided, because I need an excuse to order more samples soon :)
The rating is about present drinking pleasure only.
