Received as a 5g freebie with my ridiculous 5g sample order, thanks!
Teapot time. 5g, 100mL teapot, temps ranging from just off boiling (Verdant-recommended) to 190F, 10s rinse, 10s/15/20/25/30/45/1m/1m15/1m30
Yeah, I know ‘light’ shows up a lot, but that’s just what this tea is.
Dry leaf doesn’t have much scent, warmed smelled like woody peach and perfume-orchid. Very light-bodied and -flavored with a really nice, moderate camphor effect; however, the taste of camphor was light in comparison. Some light savory fruitiness came in to play along with a tingling tongue and pronounced salivation in later steeps. Aftertaste was a light camphor and peach seed with the addition of faint florals in late steeps. The florals were more evident in the nose: the same perfume-orchid of the warmed leaf. Is that what Verdant’s noted plumeria smells like? There was also a fair amount of astringency that I tried to coax away by playing with temps with no luck, though I did permanently bump the remaining steeps down to 190F. I experienced a warm fuzzing of my vision and slight muscle relaxation.
Overall, this tea was too light and delicate for my burly preferences and the astringency was too strong for what the rest of the tea was. In retrospect, I’d do a flash rinse and start with 190F, possibly going lower.
