August 2020 harvest
On a roll today with Ketlee notes. Here’s the current cup, brewed western in a mason jar. If there is one thing consistent about my enjoyment of tea, it’s that I prefer white teas brewed in glass. Anyway, I picked this up because I fell in love with Old Ways Tea’s 2018 White Tea, which was a gently smoked white from Fujian, China.
What a cool tea! The smoke of the dry leaf attacks the nose. It’s savory like smoked paprika and mesquite wood. I guess it could smell like unsweetened powdered BBQ spice mix. The woodsmoke carries through into the cup, sharp but smooth and softened by petrichor. I also smell something very fruit, almost like a tart quince-apple mixture. Earthy-spicy-woody like cumin.
The sip is just as rich as the aromas, warm and savory, lightly viscous, exploding with hot sun, tall grasses, dry earth, a cooking fire. Massive woody resins. Tangy, almost sour fruits and red berries. Faint roasted fennel bulb. It’s invigorating and comforting at the same time. A tea that’s intensely rustic but - GAH! This is so good.
On the second cup and equally as good. More mineral and thinner, still tangy like cucumber and gooseberry, with a nice finishing astringency. Eucalyptus. Now drying but not bitter.
Picked out some wet leaf to smell. Under the savory woodsmoke, I can smell sweet redfruit, leather and eucalyptus.
Lotta strength to these leaves.
This tea is not going to be for everybody but if you want a bold and rich smoked tea, this is a great pick.
[see https://www.worldteanews.com/Insights/wild-forage-tea-indias-manipur-forests]
Flavors: Apple, Astringent, Campfire, Cucumber, Cumin, Dry Grass, Drying, Earthy, Eucalyptus, Fennel, Fruity, Gooseberry, Incense, Leather, Mineral, Petrichor, Pleasantly Sour, Pungent, Quince, Red Fruits, Resin, Rich, Savory, Smoked, Smooth, Spices, Spicy, Tangy, Viscous, Wood, Woody
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I never would have thought that white tea and smoke would pair nicely. I am always learning stuff from your reviews!
Sounds like it would be good with cheese – maybe drunken goat and smoked Gouda.
gmathis, glad I’m able to throw curiosities out there for you to discover.
I can send some both y’alls way if you’d like to try it.
I never would have thought that white tea and smoke would pair nicely. I am always learning stuff from your reviews!
Sounds like it would be good with cheese – maybe drunken goat and smoked Gouda.
gmathis, glad I’m able to throw curiosities out there for you to discover.
I can send some both y’alls way if you’d like to try it.