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As a growing fan of Lapsang Souchong, I was delighted to find this one in my swap package from Daylon. I’d never heard of Trident Tea, which has a large selection of stuff I’d like to buy if my cupboard was smaller and they shipped to Canada. I steeped roughly 5 g of tea in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of jasmine, other flowers, and malt. The first steep has notes of jasmine, malt, caramel, and grass. I kind of regret not using my 85 ml teapot to get a more concentrated flavour. The second steep gives me other flowers, maybe orchid and rose, plus more caramel, hints of chocolate, and that sappy note Daylon mentioned. I get oakwood in the third and fourth steeps, which makes for a slightly strange combination with the florals. The tea comes off as a bit drying and tannic, but I like the balance between the sweet caramel and florals and the heavier wood and malt. I get brown sugar and more caramel in the next couple rounds. The session fades into malt, brown sugar, tannins, wood, and minerals.

This tea is sweet and floral without being perfumey, which makes it a winner in my books. I wasn’t quite as taken with it as Daylon, mainly because it was a little drying and the florals faded somewhat quickly. Still, I’ll add Trident to the long list of companies I’d consider buying from in the future.