VISUAL: The dry tea leaves are gorgeous! Golden and green and feathered like dried flower petals. The tea itself brews to a beautiful rich dark caramel color. Surprising considering how light golden and green the dried tea is.
SMELL: I was surprised by this one, the first whiff smells very similar to an Assam tea like Irish Breakfast, although with more subtletea. Smelling more carefully reveals more floral and sweeter notes of a Chinese black tea.
TASTE: Oh wow YUM. It’s more delicate than teas from India, and like BrewTEAlly Sweet mentioned, not at all brisk. Others have already described this one perfectly, tobacco leaf and rich sweetness. Very smooth and creamy mouth feel.
PREPARATION: 16 oz of water, just off a boil, steeped for 2 minutes (stopped short of the recommended time because it tasted pretty perfect already). I don’t generally add any sugar to my fine teas but tried it on the recommendation of my fellow steepsters Michael Cutillo and Julie Stiles. A pinch of sugar did bring out the flavor nicely. Thanks! (For my second steeping I left the sugar out, call me a purist).
