This is a Chinese Black tea, and it has a bold, standoffish, almost noble or regal taste. The notes on MEM Tea’s site say that it tastes of burnt caramel or burnt sugar, and that is extremely accurate to me. There’s also this sort of mushroom-y earthiness that gives the brew a very full body, but a very dry finish on the pallet. This is one of those teas where I definitely wouldn’t go more than the recommended brew time of 4-5 minutes, since I would imagine the tannic and bitter notes becoming much more unpleasant. Still, I like how bold the flavor is, and how distinct it is from a lot of other black teas.
This tea seems to be quite caffeine-heavy too, which I found out by accident when I drank a cup of it at 6 PM. I wasn’t able to sleep until 3 AM that night. Unless you’ve got a great tolerance for the stuff, this is a morning-only tea. If you’re looking for a pure, unblended black tea where a sip feels like a duke’s glove-slap to your face, you can’t go wrong here.
Flavors: Burnt Sugar, Cocoa, Dark Wood, Floral
