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I trust Auggy. If she says, as a fellow disliker of rooibos, that this is a good smoky, then I believe her.

Even if it has what looks like a LOT of rooibos in it.

I was a bit apprehensive of this one, going around poking the tin cautiously for a while now. It’s the last one of the Auggy-smokies, so there’s no way to postpone it any longer.

The dry leaves smell more woody and Earl Grey-y than I had expected. Spicy too. Pepper-y. I reminded of cayenne and such like. (I trust Auggy)

There is a sweet, honey-y smell from the cup when I pour, and when I smell a bit closer, there the smoke is. It’s not a very permeating note in the aroma, but it’s there. In combination with the rooibos it turns into a funny citrus-y note, which brings my mind back to the Earl Grey-ness of the dry leaves.

I trust Auggy.

Okay, here goes. This is me about to have rooibos blend. (This is me post-poning the moment, actually). I have my sugar dispenser within reach, just in case I need to drown out some of the rooibos. Okay. Insert trusting Auggy mantra here. Right. takes deep breath and gathers courage

Okay, this is odd.

sips again

This is unmistakably rooibos. sips But it sort of doesn’t taste entirely like rooibos. The smoke is doing some weird things to it. That special sweet/spicy/sour note of regular rooibos is very underplayed here, barely there at all, but it tastes a bit like there ought to be a handful of freshly cut wood chips in there.

It’s supposed to have a lychee note too. I’m in the fortunate position that I actually know what lychees taste like (they’re very yummy) so I know which flavour to search for. And it is indeed there. A bit woodier than the real fruit, but it’s there loud and clear on the swallow and to some degree in the aftertaste.

The smoke itself, because the smoke is what’s important here, is not really very obvious when you drink this. Mostly I’m just sitting here considering what an odd general flavour it has, and then the smoke comes in as a sort of after thought. If it hadn’t been for the smoke, however, I’m really not sure I could have made myself finish the cup.

With the smoke it is a very nice cup indeed, but it’s not one I couldn’t live without. (Unlike that Andrews & Dunham Caravan… What’s to become of me now?) Of these four that Auggy shared with me, I would put this one as my least favourite. Which isn’t really saying much considering that I’m still giving it so many points.

My trust in Auggy suffered no damage on account of this tea, even if I was quite apprehensive about it at first.

What a strange and complicated tea.