Need tea before my brain can work. Grabbed this one because I am finding I enjoy trying different breakfast blends. No clue why but I do.
Can’t really get any smell off the dry leaves. I mean, they smell like something but I can’t identify what. My nose is a bit stuffy so I’m not going to fault the tea on that one. The brewed tea smells very… tea-like. A little sweet, a little… nutty and earthy maybe?
The taste is smooth and rich but not overly distinct. A little heavy feeling, but not in a clunky way because the overall feel of the tea is smooth and silky. So more like a heavy satin than anything unpleasant. I really enjoy the feel of this, actually. Solid and hearty but not rough.
No bitterness, no real astringency (just a tiny dryness at the end maybe), the nutty flavor seems to be the most distinct. I seem to get a hint of my beloved cardboard every so often but it’s not very strong so I might be imagining it or hoping for it.
Overall, a good tea, I think. Not super-special or flavorful but I really loved the heavy feel of it, especially since it was coupled with a nice smoothness – no rough bitterness or astringency that seems to come from heavier bodied teas. I’m not sure if I’ll have to get some, but I kind of wish I had a lot more in my pantry to slowly go through. If that makes any sense. So probably not one I have to go out and buy RIGHT NOW but when I order from Tavalon, I bet I’ll get some of this.
I also made the husband a cup. He likes it quite a lot saying that it seems to give different tastes with each sip – sometimes it is like a heavy Irish breakfast and others like a smooth black. He’s finding a bit of bitterness/astringency on the very tail of the sip that he says keeps it from becoming a 5 star tea for him, but it’s a 4/5 for sure.
ETA: Had the second steep of this (@6:30) with some fairly strong, butterscotch-y cheese and crackers and it held up well. Even though it had a thinner body that the first steep, the flavor was still nice and strong enough to combat stinky cheese.
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I’m glad you liked this. Funny – the ceylon wasn’t bitter for me, but this one was. I think I drank them while I was studying, so it’s entirely possible that I wasn’t being too careful about making them. I have too many teas, both in general and that I need to revisit.
I think both of them have a bit of astringency/bitterness so I can see how brewing methods (or even how long they sit in a cup) would change that factor in them and I might have run up against that, especially with the Ceylon because I didn’t drink it all that quickly. Perhaps I just lucked out with this one. But I think overall I accept the astringency from this one since it is overall a nice, hearty tea and not from the Ceylon because it was a lighter bodied tea that I felt couldn’t deal with bitterness. That and the Ceylon ended up really tart at the end. (Though the slurping exacerbated it, which is totally my fault).
I’m glad you liked this. Funny – the ceylon wasn’t bitter for me, but this one was. I think I drank them while I was studying, so it’s entirely possible that I wasn’t being too careful about making them. I have too many teas, both in general and that I need to revisit.
I think both of them have a bit of astringency/bitterness so I can see how brewing methods (or even how long they sit in a cup) would change that factor in them and I might have run up against that, especially with the Ceylon because I didn’t drink it all that quickly. Perhaps I just lucked out with this one. But I think overall I accept the astringency from this one since it is overall a nice, hearty tea and not from the Ceylon because it was a lighter bodied tea that I felt couldn’t deal with bitterness. That and the Ceylon ended up really tart at the end. (Though the slurping exacerbated it, which is totally my fault).