I ordered a sample of this with my most recent order from Norbu. I’ve been really enjoying the other green teas I’ve tried from Greg this year.
Sweet vegetal scent of flat light green leaves, peas and grass. These are long thin young leaves, one or two leaves with a bud, but rather flat like a Long Jing before steeping. The leaves swell up to light asparagus green.
Flash rinse with 185 degree water—drank rinse, sweet and tasty and light.
1st infusión, 160 degrees, about 20 seconds—delicious honeydew melon, cucumber, hints of peas, but more sweet floral notes. Very nice.
2nd infusion, 160 degrees, 30 seconds, but realized afterwards I used more water, more dilute, oops—sweet, peas coming up stronger now, touch of floral, but a little light on the flavor, should have lengthened the infusion.
3rd infusion, 160 degrees, 1 minute, sweet, light, flowers/grass/cucumber/melon. Mmm.
4th infusion, another 160 degrees, 1 minute, delicious sweet, light, floral, melon, wonderful.
5th infusion, another 160 degrees, forgot it for almost 10 minutes (oops), still sweet, floral, delicious, but quite mild despite the overly long infusion—really this should count as about 3!
6th infusion, 180 degrees, 5 minutes, and delicately sweet and floral, but really done now.
I prepared a second series of infusions, and again it is delicious, sweet, vegetal, grassy, a little floral, and highly tasty. I started again with a hotter rinse to ‘wake’ the leaves, then moved up in temps from 150s to 190s, probably 9 or 10 infusions, and the infusions have been good all the way through. Wonderful stuff.
This is another lovely green tea from Norbu. I am getting more of the qualities that I enjoy in a green tea from these than from most of the others I’ve had from other sources, and don’t yet know how much is simply better tea, and how much is better brewing. Right now it seems like better tea is the more important thing, and this one makes me very happy.
