Another from AU’s new winter line up.
Everything about this one sounds really interesting to me, except for the prune. However I think if the rest of the tea works well I can probably overlook that element so long as it’s not the main flavour. Dry, the leaf smells very intensely perfumed: I totally get the same artificial/boozy kind of flavour quality that I got from AU’s Metropolitan blend which is a little weird because they don’t really have any ingredient overlap.
It’s so intriguing brewed up. The flavour is just so… odd?
I don’t dislike it though, I’m just rather perplexed by it. It definitely starts off nice and thick/creamy with some definite white chocolate notes. I think that’s a pretty solid way to start the sip, but then thick sort of transitions to oily and the flavour gets a little weird. I do get cherry notes from this, but they’re very very dark cherry notes and they remind me a lot of booze and perfume. Like, brandied cherries with a floral finish? If that makes any sense at all. There’s nothing floral in this blend though which is part of where that confusion comes from – it’s almost like the bergamot/lavender combo in Metropolitan though. I don’t hate it, but I wish it was a little mellowed out.
The prune comes through more in the undertones and finish but I actually like it a fair bit. I mean, as someone who doesn’t love prune notes in my tea (or even the fruit in general) it’s not bad. I think it’s not heavy handed and has just a hint of sweetness that is needed to kind of be a check to the more intense cherry/alcohol thing kind of going on. It reminds me a lot of the prune in Dammann Freres Noel a Prague black tea, and since that’s a black tea that I enjoy A LOT the comparison is definitely a good one.
Overall, I think this is a really interesting/complex full bodied flavoured black. I like the layers to the flavour and I definitely found the cup mostly pleasant. It’s not without faults though, and I think the flavours are a little intense and competitive. Next time I have this one I’m going to try under leafing and hopefully that will help smooth some things out. I also think it suffers from some texture issues too, from the white chocolate. Milk could be a solution to that problem, though.
EDIT: I just noticed this also has plum in it! That actually is a shared ingredient between this one and Metropolitan so maybe it’s the plum flavour that I’m associating with both blends. Not totally sure, though.
