This tea just did not want to quit. Starting off like a smoky punch to the throat, gradually becoming a mixture of sweet (honey, honeysuckle), salty, and smoky.
By the ninth or tenth infusion, the main taste was starting to get sort of watery, but the smoke and the saltiness kept lingering. The strength of this tea is amazing. It is very medicinal, I find. When I had it, I was suffering from a cough/sore throat, and it really made the soreness go away, and it even seemed to help loosen the phlegm in my system. Move over cold medicine! This tea is a treat. It reminds me of summer campfires, and also cooking in the kitchen (the smoke aroma and taste of the later infusions begins to be less like a campfire and more like a mixture of oregano and black pepper). Also, after the second and third infusions, you will probably begin to feel tea-drunk. By the sixth or seventh, you will probably feel sort of heavy in your head and in your limbs. I would not recommend any serious activity for a good while afterwards.
I recommend this tea to those who have an open mind, seeing as it is very intense, and quite out of the ordinary for a black tea. Your basic Earl Grey lover might not appreciate (or be able to handle) it.
