This is the second tea i am giving my attention to from the shipment of samples i got from tealux. I had to wait through 4 hours of work after discovering the package in my mailbox during my lunch break. It was not fun.
Opening the bag, my mind races back to my childhood. My parents live in the country, with 6 acres, completely surrounded by cornfields. We had lots of animals, and we fed them mixtures of alfalfa, straw, and clover. While not exact, the smell of this tea comes very close to that feed. This tea definitely has my attention.
This time, i chose to only use 1.5 tsp of this tea, because the leaf is so small and needle like, a tsp amount of this leaf is quite dense. So in it goes with about 195-200 degree water (im getting good enough at judging the water temp based on the sound/bubbles that form on the bottom of the pan im not bothering with the thermometer anymore, ecleast not for blacks) and i infuse for 30 seconds, increasing 25 seconds each infusion.
Ooh… ooh MY…the taste… i thought i was in love with innocent little Black Dragon Pearl… now i meet her older, more experienced, and FAR more playful sister. This takes everything i love about the pearl, and does it better. The first sip is the greeting that i know well, but slightly different from the Pearl; the light taste of the base black tea, a lighter taste of cocoa and molasses, and barely a hint of honeysuckle. No bitterness what so ever. Hmm. So i sip some more, and the more i sip, the more bold and playful she becomes, the sweetness and molasses flavors building and cuddling my taste buds. Well now! This is getting interesting. The flavors peak and hold at a lovely mix as you sip, giving a lovely honeysuckle nectar-ish finish that lingers for an extremely long time, teasing you back to take another sip. And another.
As you can guess, this tea is simply… divine. But as is with anything worth having, it demands some respect. Being considerably more expensive than the pearl, i am going to have to definitely keep myself in check when it comes to this tea. Which makes me die inside.
This tea deserves to be an every day tea, but unless you have a GREAT job, it is not viable.
But if you even remotely LIKE black teas, please, do yourself a favor, and buy an oz of this. You will thank yourself… and also hate yourself for not having more money.
Flavors: Cocoa, Honeysuckle, Molasses
