’14 Mahei, Kebu Dragon Pearl
The Mahei is a tightly wrapped dragon pearl with good quality leaves and a remarkable aftertaste. There is a fair amount of bitter. The broth is sweet, with a fragrance and taste of melon insinuating itself through the session. This melon sensation is evident on exhalations and the tingly taste of camphor plays on the tongue for quite a while.
It’s a good tea, maintaining a certain equilibrium throughout the sessions. There is a very definite headiness. The chaqi also has chest-opening action, and I can also sense a bit of warming circulating in the chest.
Dragon pearls are a bit like Carli Simon and Heinz catsup, a reference for those of you who experienced the 70s. It’s “slow good,” was the saying from the commercial and dragon pearls are similarly slow. Several infusions will be spent on just getting them to open. The leaf material tends to be excellent but in contrast to maocha where all the leaves release at once, dragon pears release layer by layer. It is not unlike me to sometimes sacrifice this procedure by soaking the dragon pearl for more the five minutes.
Since it is so tightly packed, you’ll get several infusions. Throughout this two-day session, fourteen infusions were extracted. Infusion times and temperatures varied. The first four infusions were fairly light, but the mouthfeel remains consistently viscous, consistently sweet, and consistently gentle.
