So the real excitement of today was new Korean teaware, from the truly unique and wonderful artist Seong-il. I was so excited I decided to open up a bag of Korean tea, that being the Tea Trekkers Jungjak. I must say these teas are quite a treat. I am writing this review from memory because I really wished to be taken into the tea experience today, especially with my new teaware.
I have been told by Toki at The Mandarins Tea that if you quickly rinse the green tea with near boiling water it will improve the tea experience by better allowing the tea oils to be released. I must say upon pouring off that "rinse" while waiting for the water to cool to proper temp for the first steep, the aroma pouring out of the little teapot from these leaves was absolutely unbelievable. It was rather pine like and incredibly potent. It served to both relax me and make me uneasy, uneasy due to a combination of wanting to drink the tea and an empty stomach.
So here is the wood fired teapot, that I got today. Cut off in the bottom right corner is a little bit of a lid rest, something that I'm already unsure how I got by without as it is so enjoyable just to have there and add a bit of distinction to the set up.
These are Shino cups and are rather smaller than I thought they would be, but I am starting to become a bit of a Shino fan, or perhaps I am a fan of nearly all teaware!
Somehow I found the aroma of the actual infusion lacking, sure it was incredibly clean and fresh, but no major forthright and robust aroma. But the flavor comes across with a decent bit of pine and if I hadn't been reading so many reviews by Matt, I do not think I would have noticed this, but there is a decent bean type of flavor in there also. In the later infusions it becomes almost minty and quite cooling.
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