I enjoyed this tea but thought it the most overpriced of Teakruthi's offerings so far.

Dry leaf smells quite good, like a Chinese tea, a little vegetal and slightly floral, suggesting of a slight edge. It reminds me of chun mee both in smell and appearance, but is more vegetal.

I like this tea but it can get overwhelming. It is edgy: both bitter and sour. I can find these qualities pleasing, but I need to be in the mood.

I experimented with brewing temperature and found this tea changed a little when brewed with near-boiling water. Oddly, it was less bitter (less sharp) with hotter water, but I found the hot water made it less aromatic too. When the water was hot, I mostly got vegetably notes, like asparagus up front. There were some "off" aromas when brewed like this. I think this tea did best with about 180F water.

Brewed as I like this cup is intensely aromatic, a strong tangy flavor, and a thick, rich mouthfeel and bold flavor, and strongly vegetal aroma with floral hints.

Can be steeped twice. The broken-leaf tea infuses quickly so I recommend a shorter (~1-2 minute) first steep unless you want the second cup to be markedly weaker in aroma; I find the second steep is usually still pretty flavorful. As a side note, Teakruthi shows individualized brewing instructions on each tea, and has very precise, individualized specifications of the amount of grams per cup, and then gives generic recommendations about temperature and steep times. I really think this tea does best with lower-temperature water, and shorter steeps, and I think in general Teakruthi would do well to check these and customize them to each particular tea.

I enjoyed this tea, but it seems astronomically priced, because it's a broken-leaf tea in a similar style to teas that are very inexpensive, both Chinese teas and other ones grown in Sri Lanka. For example, I wouldn't say this tea was any better than Upton Tea Imports' TC63, TC35, or the now discontinued TC47, and those teas were all much lower-priced, and some of them were whole-leaf. Compared to Chinese teas, I've bought top-notch Chun Mee for a fraction of the price of this tea. I can't see this tea competing against these lower-priced offerings, because, although it is good, it doesn't stand out among them. When a tea is priced as high as Teakruthi's offerings are, the bar for competition is set pretty high.

Add your own review

Login or Sign Up to comment on this review.