This tea is a notch up from the Sejak sold by Arbor Teas, and I think it lives up to these claims--it's only a little bit pricier, but I think it's much more flavorful, aromatic, and pleasing to drink. Thank you again to Dewey for this sample!

The dry leaf of this smells deep, dark, fruity, and herbaceous, reminiscent of being out in a thicket, picking berries in summer.

Upon brewing, this tea is full of flavor, very strong and potent. There's a strong toasty quality in the aroma, a little like pan-fired Chinese teas, but without being smoky, and a little like sencha. Fruity and almost floral. When brewed weakly, also vegetal and slightly seaweedy, although I find this comes out less when brewed more strongly.

Brisk and bold, with a significant bite of bitterness that I like very much.

Infuses very fast though, and easy to oversteep. I recommend a very brief (1 minute or less) first infusion, or it becomes a bit overwhelmingly strong, and the flavor is gone for making a second cup. If you keep the first cup brief, you can brew a second cup.

People who like delicate green teas will probably want to keep the first infusion even shorter, like 30 seconds--even with Western-style brewing, using 1 teaspoon of leaf per cup. If you find this difficult to brew to satisfaction, you may also wish to just make a single steeping and use less than one teaspoon of leaf.

Not cheap, but the price seems reasonable for an organic-certified tea of this quality. My main regret is that, like the Sejak, it doesn't resteep well. But this is made up for by the fact that the leaf stretches so far.

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