835 Day Rye Barrel Stored LaoManE Black Tea

Gongfu!

I’ve tried more than a handful or two of these alcohol barrel aged productions. Though typically delicious, one thing they often have in common is that whatever alcohol they’ve essentially been scented with typically steeps out entirely within two or maybe three (if you’re lucky) infusions. I don’t know if it comes down to the type of alcohol or the number of days it was barrel aged, but that’s not been my experience with this tea. The dry leaf smells very strongly of rye – like taking a sniff straight from the bottle. With strong notes of oak, spiced fruits, black pepper, and pumpernickel bread; this tea tastes very much of the rye it was aged with. Even after six or seven infusions, the taste still hadn’t fully gone away either. It really, truly did penetrate these leaves. Plus, as is typical of teas from the LaoManE region, this black tea packs some bitter bite and hearty astringency – it works brilliantly in conjunction with the rye though. Stroke of genius to combine the two.

I love weird and experimental teas, and for as long as I’ve known him, that’s something I’ve always been able to count on Andrew to deliver – whether it was back when he was dehydrating watermelon and other weird fruits for his blended tea ventures or now that his focus is centered more so on pure/traditional teas. Very happy to have caught this one when I had the chance!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CytrQ_MO9Fx/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mfv_Qq3YvM

Bizarre little cake. The smells and the tastes are so different they get separate reviews.

Warming leaves smell of baby powder… some kind of department store perfume that reminds me of my aunt Nadine… definitely floral, but I don’t have the flower essence vocabulary to find it. Strong notes of raisin, dried fruits, sugar. I also periodically get some chlorine that resolves to alcohol vapor… kinda funny. The alcohol is rummish, like a rum and coke with the layered sugar and fruit notes. In later steeps, bread dough!

Taste is bitter as all hell. Not astringent, just bitter. Not tannic, just bitter. Green wood. And then, holy god, I forgot about a steep for a minute and it’s almost undrinkable. Doesn’t even taste like tea, more like kava… is this the “LME bitter” I’ve read about? I assume yes, and so keeping drinking to see if I can eventually get to the sweetness. The bitterness finally caves after about 16 steeps, but there’s not a lot left after that.

I wonder how much of the nose is coming from the rye barrel? What would compel a person to drink this if not for the smells?

Joke’s on me, I have 195 grams with which to answer this question. Bottoms up, buttercup!