From Dark Matter 2016. These heichas are very interesting. They seem to change flavors almost every steep. I used 5.1g in a 100mL gaiwan with boiled water – steeps of 10s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 60s, 90s.
The dry leaves had a kind of coconut sweetness aroma. The wet leaf smelled like a caramel or coconut latte to me, which was surprising.
First steep had an odd flavor, almost tasted chemically at first, but I also detected notes of coconut and vegetal notes, as well as a creamy texture and a light coffee-like bitterness. Next steep mostly vegetal and coconut flavors. Started to get some woody notes in the next steep. Steep number four was pretty different, some floral and caramel notes in there – decently sweet. Woodiness stayed throughout the rest of the session as well as some floral flavors. As with the other heicha I tasted from Dark Matter, it got a little odd tasting in the last couple steeps, tasted like oversteeped flowers or something. Glad that Dark Matter included these heichas, as I might not have ever tried this type of tea otherwise. Thanks LiquidProust!
Flavors: Caramel, Coconut, Coffee, Floral, Sweet, Vegetal, Wood