Fortnum & Mason Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 7
Sigh. Why must you put all of the straight black teas in a row, Fortnum? It has me wondering if the flavored black teas are going to be the same way, and we’ll eventually have like six days in a row of fruit-flavored black tea, probably with the same base…
Being a BOP, it’s a very broken leaf, so I kept the steep to 2 minutes. I’m quite enjoying it, really. Obviously a late flush Darjeeling, it has a thick, chewy, bready flavor to it with oodles of raw grain and musty hay. Perhaps slightly mustier than I would prefer, but still. It’s strong and flavorful, and I think juuuust on the edge of being slightly bitter, but not quite there. There’s a slight astringency, but nothing notable.
I like this one as an alternative to a breakfast blend. Darjeeling has such a different flavor from the usual suspects, and it makes for a somewhat mellower cuppa. But this one is still strong enough that it would take milk well, if I were so inclined.
Let’s jam! Today it’s a split and toasted English muffin with butter and Bonne Maman’s Apricot-Lavender Spread. Now, I’m not a fan of lavender in food and drink generally. I enjoy it as a scent in cleaning and bath products, but I find it too soapy in taste. However. This is mostly an apricot preserve (which happens to be one of my favorites) with just a light accent of lavender. It adds a light floral, citrusy top note and I quite like it! So pleased at how subtle Bonne Maman is with these floral additions that could easily be very perfumey. :)
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Bread, Grain, Hay, Honey, Musty, Straw, Thick, Wheat
We finally mesh! This was mine today, too.
Yay, we’ve converged at last! XD
It will be interesting to see what we each have tomorrow…