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After all the black teas I’ve been drinking, I felt like I needed to “lighten up” with a green.

Brews up a deep chartreuse. Scent is savory and a bit peppery with hints of sweet flowers—like wilted swiss chard and honeysuckle. The taste is surprisingly smooth and buttery (mmm…butter) —reminds me very much of the gyokuro I sampled from the Jade Teapot.

Overall, this seems like an exceptional green tea—all the best qualities of a green tea are expressed (well, at least the qualities that I like :) ).

Nice!

Mmmm…smoky! Like the purifying incense of bitter herbs, resins and charred woods. I envision the thick, beefy smoke weaving its way throughout some obscured Gnostic temple. Then, through an open glass window, high above, the clean, sweet breeze from a spring-laden forest wafts in.

The leaves brew up slowly into a rich, heady liquid the color of an ancient redwood. The taste is very much like its scent! Just a bit “grittier”, down to earth….and with a side of bacon (wrapped in butter lettuce). Yum!

I love this tea! It’s my first “official” smoky tea—my first “Russian Caravan” blend and my first Lapsang Souchong! I need to seek out more of this type. I’m hooked.

From today onwards, I am a Caravan groupie. And proud of it! :)

Drinking the last of my pouch, this morning. The last bits are intensely raisin-y and maybe a little burnt buttery?

Farewell, Raisin Toast tea! You were delicious ’till the very end!

I’m discovering that eating something sweet with Jackee makes him taste like bacon! Because right now I’m having this really sweet cheese danish with lemony crumbles and it really enhances his smokey pine notes.

It’s like Jackee but with extra campfire!

I felt like something fruity and sugary, so I chose this.

Oh, this is honey alright—pure wild honey. It’s a musky, pollen covered, honeycomb dripping of honey one day old. The scent is like a sticky, sappy honey-coated pear so sweet and overripe it’s almost turning to brandy!

The taste is less brazen, more candy-sweet and “translucent” like a lollipop or pear jello. Underneath, the black tea base is toasty but sweet—as if the leaves have been so completely infused with the flavorings that they’re almost indetectable.

The tea is cooling now and I really am reminded of Middle Eastern desserts! Something about it reminds me of pistachios and saffron and rosewater…and syrupy baklava.

Yummy tea..I like it!

Okay..second steeping..

Aroma is of roasted nuts, caramel and…cocoa powder. First sip is definitely like roasted nuts—like the inside of a peanut shell, sort of dry and toasty like that—but not salty. Subsequent sips as the tea cools…tastes more peanut buttery to me. Maybe like brazil nuts. Chocolate lingers on the aftertaste.

I know this is not a flavored tea. While I enjoy flavored teas, they only aspire to be this— compared to Dawn, they are shadows…just brash imitators. Dawn shines with quiet confidence.

Guys, this is the real deal. A must try. Don’t miss it!

Just a quick blurb before dinner:

Oh my god, this is cocoa tea!! Everything about this tea is cocoa-ish—from the dry leaves, to the brewed aroma, to the taste! It’s like bittersweet, malty cocoa. Gosh, how many times can I say “cocoa” in this note? But that’s the best thing I can compare this to. It’s smooth, slightly smoky cocoa. Please get this if cocoa (or chocolate) is your love!

I chose as my dessert tea tonight because I haven’t had it in awhile. I’ve amassed so many teas to sample since I first got this that it has fallen to the wayside. Poor neglected tea!

This is still yummy, but the overall flavor seems thinner and less robust than I remember. The cinnamon seems to have eaten up the raisin-y plummy taste! But that’s okay—I love cinnamon.

I may need to double up on the leaf next time to get more of the “raisin toast” flavor.

The fragrance of the dry leaves is wonderful!! A very creamy, rich jasmine tempered with the sweetest of vanillas. Once steeped, the scent deepens into a steamy, candied, hothouse orchid.

The taste is a pale version of the delicious scent. There is a sweetness with just a wisp of jasmine. The vanilla is apparent in the aftertaste—a syrupy tropical vanilla.

For me, this rates high because I’m in love with the aroma! It’s intoxicating. The tea itself is good—just remember to breath in deep with each sip—then it becomes extraordinary.

Hmm, the brewed scent is almost like sugared celery. I’ve never actually had celery with sugar—but it’s a fresh, stalky, sweet green aroma I’m sensing (strange for a black tea, I know). The sweetness deepens a little and gets toastier, upon cooldown. The vanilla has a soft and baked quality, but the flavor is faint. The black tea base is very mild and only slightly tannic.

This tea is fine. Nothing too extraordinary. An acceptable vanilla black tea.

A good choice for the conservative black tea drinker thinking to venture out unto flavored territory.