Dry nose – leather, wood, straight black tea leaf.
Wet nose – steamed greens, acidic, a delightful malty sweetness like a thick bread.
1st Infusion:
I may have oversteeped the first infusion at 60 seconds, but the leaves hold up well. Powerful black tea with a hint of astringency but not bitterness, just bite. Subtly sweet balanced by astringent.
I put a dash of water in this brew due to the overpowering flavors, which made it hard to pull out more notes. There’s an old adage about black coffee that will “put hair on a man’s chest.” This brewing is the tea equivalent of that coffee.
2nd Infusion:
60 seconds again, the leaves have calmed down a lot. What is left is a great, bold black tea. A bit of copper on the tongue. Malt in the body and a medium astringency on the finish. Happily shared with coworkers.
3rd and 4th Infusion:
~75 and 90 seconds. This has mellowed into a hallmark black tea, bold body mixed with some lighter and sweeter notes. Less lingering on the palate. Some astringency hugging the tongue and slithering through the throat once drank. It’s nice getting such a range of flavors out of one session.
5th Infusion:
120 seconds. Same as 4th but the leaves have fallen off a bit. They were however solid for 5 infusions!
Overall, this is a very straightforward tea that I could recommend to lovers of black tea for breakfast, or an afternoon pick me up.
Flavors: Astringent, Biting, Malty, Sweet
