Sri Lanka Black (Ceylon)

The leaves are a beautiful dark autumn brown with a few furry golden tips amongst them. On average they are a few mm long and thin with a sweet malt and currant scent.

Once steeped this tea is golden brown in colour and has a honeyed malt aroma.

Flavour is very light and sweet with essences of: malt, honey, sweet flowers, raisins and fresh wood.

It’s a nice subtle black tea with plenty of charm and sweetness. Definiately a black tea that you can drink and relax with. Also considering there were only a few golden tips present I would have guessed there were more if not entirely golden tips.

I would consider buying this tea for a change compared to my beloved Dian Hong golden tips but honestly it will not be a favourite of mine.

This is not your average Ceylon. I’ve got an average Ceylon, and it’s nice, but it doesn’t blow me away with interesting flavours.

This, on the other hand, is so full of flavour that it’s hard to believe it is a Ceylon. As the description says, it’s got a slightly chocolaty hint to it, but it’s more that it just smells warm and inviting and cosy. Sniffing it is like sniffing a fruity red wine, and the colour is deep orange.

The flavour is just as good. The astringency comes through a little more, and it’s probably best with a spot of milk. I thought I was an Assam man for strong black tea, but this might just change my mind.

I’ve had a good sample through the Canton Tea Company’s tea club, and saved the last cupsworth (if that’s not a word yet then it should be) for the right moment. Well, I’m sitting in the conservatory with the rain pattering on the roof, with the cat on my knee, and this is the right moment. Yum

This was my first tea from the Canton tea club. I was totally psyched (yes, totally psyched) to try it, especially since I haven’t had a Ceylon in a while. Sadly, the predominant note to my palate was dirt a la the skin of fresh russet potatoes.

EDIT: Going with my gut. I’m just not into this tea.

The dry tea leaves smell like sorghum and are pretty tiny and twisted with a few golden colored ones among the mix.
This smells sweeter than it tastes. It does have notes of malt, chocolate, and a touch of orange pith because it has a tiny bitter note but not an unpleasant bitter.
This was a nice afternoon pick-me-up tea!!
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7/22/14
Tried this again Western style this morning. Can’t seem to brew this without bringing out bitterness. This is a hand made Orange Pekoe from Amba Estate in Sri Lanka and so pretty to look at. I’m trying it again at a lower temp even though they suggest 203F.

Tried it one more time at 190F and still got strong bitter notes. :( Luckily I didn’t get a lot of this tea and it is gone. I feel badly that I was not able to bring out the notes that Canton brought out bc someone made this tea by hand and worked hard on it.