Viscous herbal bitterness, sugary returning sweetness.
Fruity, floral, honey, mineral, later more herbal.
Starts with a silky sweetness, and a good silvery mouthfeel, the second steep reveals some stonefruit bitterness, with brown sugary returning sweetness, the bitter notes evolves a bit on the following steeps, but remains comfortable, also leaving a slight scratchyness in the throat. feeling on the one hand quite pure, but also aggressive on the stomach. has a cooling freshness, almost peppery feel on the tongue. Generally a herbal/mineral base note remains throughout.
Like a rocky mountain river - clean crisp herbal minerality - snappy, fresh and clean
2025-02-10
The remaining sample has been resting in the cupboard since my initial tastings, which were marred by bitterness and an overall lack of enjoyment.
Surprisingly, now there's a pleasant sweetness accompanying the mineral notes upfront—perhaps influenced by brewing with the Zini pot? The bitter edge I recall from previous sessions (1-2 years ago) is absent here. However, it does emerge in later steeps (3rd/4th onwards), becoming quite pronounced, leaving a scratchy throat. This herbal-mineral bitterness again proves challenging for my stomach, even though the tea’s quality feels pure.
Short steeps help a bit to mitigate.
2025-05-12
Again I revisit this tea, this time in the Hongi Pot. The Impression is even more silky and viscous than last time. Bitterness remains, but on a comfortable level (unlike the very first sessions where it appeared to mask a lot of the brighter notes). Also, I notice more strongly then in previous session the sugary sweetness, adding a dimension of juicyness to the taste. Also I noticed a peppery fresh notes, and slight tingling on the tongue. Mineral herbal notes throughout. It does feel grown up and clean, like a solid tea. Though, bitterness may be not be for everybody’s cup, this one has nice complexity and also depth.