Got my April Fools’ sale teas in! Everything was packaged nicely and dying to be opened. Naturally, I opened this first since it’s vanilla, duh. But I barely see vanilla bean in here. To be fair, I haven’t shaken the pouch, so perhaps the heavier vanilla bean has mostly fallen to the bottom?
Freshly steeped, I don’t get any vanilla from this, only base, but the vanilla comes out a little more as it cools. The base itself is earthier than expected. I seem to be the only one who gets a mildly smoky note. Not at all like a Lapsang, but like an über mild version of a Keemun. Just a pinch. Granted, I seem to be sensitive to earthy notes, so who knows how many would ever experience this.
I’m looking forward to shaking the pouch and experimenting further with this.
I definitely got the same smokey notes as you.