Marvellous black tea – I brewed myself a nice cup-full (~250 ml) around lunchtime (3’ steep), using 2 generous teaspoons of tea, and prepared two subsequent steeps later in the day (6’ and ~15’).
The first steep was fairly strong, giving a golden-brown liquor reminiscent of caramelising sugar, but totally without any bitterness. It really was a delightfully smooth cup of very warming, sweet black tea – I got a lovely malt flavour along with a caramel or honey-like after-taste. It had very mild astringency, but far from that I’m used to for a black tea that had been brewed for so long.
As the tea cooled, there was a mild chocolate and a mild vanilla note that came through – the cooler tea definitely came across as sweeter than the hotter stuff!
The two later steeps were milder in their malty flavour, but were (as promised) sweeter, with the caramel-honey notes really shining through. I also got a very pleasant fig/date after-taste. The tea was still wonderfully smooth.
I would add one thing: this tea definitely did not, at least under these conditions, brew very strongly. For people who love particularly powerful or dark black tea, I’d either recommend using another tsp or so, or leaving the first steep for another couple of minutes. It is a really delicious tea that I can’t imagine would ever become particularly bitter or overly astringent.
Still, I really enjoyed this tea and will be brewing it up for many days to come! Maybe I’ll try it in a Gaiwan at some point…
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Caramel, Chocolate, Dates, Fig, Honey, Malt
