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Taste and smell are pretty true to honey dew melon. But it’s strong, really strong. I could do with a more subtle flavor. All I can taste is flavoring. The only thing that doesn’t work for me is the weird aftertaste.

I don’t like this one as much as the black tea version. Honestly, the green tea kills it. It’s me not liking green tea, not that the tea is bad. I also think that the flavor overwhelms the tea.

Sipdown. 212F 2min
Solid mid-cherry flavor (not tart, not sweet) when I remember not to overleaf it. Short brew times make for a better cup. Overleafed it becomes too much overall for me. The base is only so-so, sometimes it gets a little astringent.
I must just have hit the sweet spot today. Comforting cup today at work.

I’mma say this is the tea I’ve sipped down. This is more green tasting that I would prefer. I got a lot of vegetal notes – green bean and spinach. But also buttery and sweet. Very different flavors in the same steep and not ones I’d want paired together.

Western, 190-205F, 2 min -ish

Sipdown at work. Drinking raws has gone so much better for me since I stopped trying to boil them.

190-195F, shibo, 1 rinse
1 square
10s- apricot/vegetal
10s- apricot/creamy
12s- same
15s – apricot, sugary (more as it cools), creamy, lingering minty cooling aftertaste.
several steeps after this but no new notes

I did find this last session to be more enjoyable.

Sipdown – for a tea that didn’t make it into my Steepster cupboard

Westren, 190F? Autumn 2018 Tea
I got a lot of melon flavors off this tea. It was also floral and sweet. Great tea for work, strong flavors, and well balanced.

Spring 2018 harvest – sipdown
Boiling, 2 min, western
I liked this tea a lot. It worked much better for me at a hotter temperature than what is stated on the package.
Vanilla, oak, soft, nutty, and orange. I need to re-order some of this.

From the Nov 2018 tea club – sipdown

I was a little scared to try this. But I think the delay caused the roast level to die down. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t have a lot of variation for me. Solid roast and earth, not the roast – sour I sometimes get. Consistent for with both gaiwan and western.

Sipdown for a tea that didn’t make it into my cupboard.

Spring 2018
Boiling, 2-3 minutes

Super light even at high temperatures. Soft and creamy. A little bit of vanilla and honey. Of the two whites I ordered from Mandala, I like the other one ‘White Night’ better. I like my white teas to be a little more robust and not so delicate.