I owned the Spring 2019 harvest of this blend and Sil was kind enough to share a sample of the Spring 2020 harvest so I am trying the two side-by-side today.
I started with the 2020 sample, which is a sipdown. It is a very smooth tea. Smooth but no malt. A bit of chocolate maybe. Also like dark rye bread. It’s nice but a bit boring.
The 2019 harvest has more smoke to it, which was certain unexpected. Smoke and a touch of pepper. It also is more brisk but not astringent. Underneath all that, I get a similar smooth dark rye/chocolate. Weird how it varies from harvest to harvest but these are definitely different.
The 2019 harvest certainly had more happening in the cup but I am not convinced that makes it better. Neither is a favourite but I think I liked the simple smoothness of the 2020 harvest. Thank you for sharing, Sil!