UPDATE 19/04/2013: It has come to my attention, that this tea really is something as special as it tastes; the teaplants from which this tea is made from are truly a "new" variant of Camellia sinensis. It is said that this plant is further away in it´s genetic make- up from both the Chinese and Assamese variants of the plant, than those two are from each other. So that´s like, you know, really something!
First of all: sorry for the long hiatus. The winter together with some personal issues hasn´t really helped in keeping me in the productive zone, but hopefully that´s getting better now.
I went to get some new teas from my local teashop today. There´s been all kinds of stuff happening in the past few days that have kept me from making it to re- stock my tea stash. I had some teas on my shopping list that have become somewhat of "regulars" in my tea diet, like Sikkim Temi and Margaret´s Hope- Darjeeling (the Darjeelings and the like have really grown on me during the last couple of months). The very helpful sales lady recommended this Taiwanese wild tea to me while she was packing the others. The dry scent was so unique that the high price of 28 euros per 100 gram didn´t stop me from buying some.
So of course, once home it was the first one to try out. The leaves are long and curly. I didn´t get any more info about this tea other than that the leaves really are wild grown. Wikipedia tells us that Yuchi is the name of a rural Taiwanese township, but that´s all. I would love to know more.
I already mentioned the incredible dry scent. It´s the scent of sweet summer darkness. There´s orange chocolate dipped in milk and honey. Truffles sold on an oriental secret bazaar. Night flowering orchids perfuming the air somewhere in the dark where you can´t see them. A truly Freudian odour in the sense that it seems to awake all kinds of feelings and memories which you just can´t seem to bring to the concious mind clearly enough to name them. Superb.
I steep it at 80C´ s for 2 minutes. The liquid is a beautiful deep orange. The scent changes a little, the milkyness is much more pronounced. If I couldn´t see the drink I would definitely say there must be some milk in it. Apricots and cinnamon.
The taste is light, there´s this quick ting just after the upper teeth. This is the promise of summer; not quite here yet but very comforting. All great teas do this to my brain: myriad memories surge through them with every sip. It has countless nuances too fine to name. Summer swimming trip, sun flickering through the canopy, sand between the toes. This is sweet without being tacky. It re- steeps very nicely for a second cup, and even the third one is ok. I become very alive and happy from drinking this, enough so to break my long hibernation and actually write this entry!
So happy first day of spring, because that´s what this feeling must be about.
