Today’s tea is special. When my Hong Kong mama and my mum came back from settling Yeye’s affairs, they had a few small gifts for each of us. For me, they gave me a small tea set and some tea.

The tea is a Da Hong Pao but to be honest, it could be a generic Chinese tea and I would still treasure it. It’s something tangible.

And though the thought of the tea finishing was quite scary, I thought it was fitting that I use both the tea set and the tea together. Although I took notes, this is not going to be a typical tea review because it was much more of an emotional tea experience for me.

In terms of taste, the tea was smooth and flavourful. There was almost no astringency. In fact, I was still getting used to the tea pot and left some tea in there to steep (for the time it took me to finish the first cup, which is pretty much one steep since the pot is so small) but the oversteeped tea wasn’t astringent. Drinking it was quite a moving experience and I could feel the tears pricking at my eyes.

(But let’s be honest: the tea could be bitter and oversteeped and I would still cry for the exact same reasons.)

I’m glad that the tea is good but I’m even more grateful to have it in the first place. Tea is something that brings people together and I’m glad to have this to remember Yeye.

Featured Image: Photo by Me