It’s been years since I’ve tried a piece of this cake, I only found it again after moving recently and unearthing it while packing.
I was a bit afraid that time had cost it much of it’s flavor, but it has proven resilient.
The dry leaf still doesn’t give off much scent, the wet leaf suggests currant, raisin and sharp tannins.
The first steeping was fairly light, with notes of spicy, drying woodiness floating on top of juicy raspberry, currant, raisin, fig and tobacco. Slightly astringent, leaving my tongue a bit dry after each sip. The aftertaste lingers with drying tobacco and spice.
The second steeping was even stronger as the leaf opened up. There’s a sweet tobacco-menthol scent, and blackberry dominates the flavor. Darker fruits come to the fore, fig and raisin becoming more prominent. I would almost compare this tea to a nice red wine. Aftertaste still lingers pleasantly.
That was all for this session, but I do want to experiment with a little less water and see how much I can stretch out the flavor.
I’ve always really liked the combination of spicy tobacco, fig and red fruit in this tea. I haven’t found any other teas like it and I look forward to trying the 2018 version in the future.
Flavors: Blackberry, Camphor, Drying, Fig, Raisins, Red Fruits, Red Wine, Tannic, Tobacco, Wood
