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Found an old sample of this tea in my cupboard this weekend, figured I might as well kill it. I used all three good nugs and some crumbs in my 130ml gaiwan. Gave it an aggressive rinse before letting the tea try it’s best to open up. The storage situation wasn’t the best for this sample, but I was still able to enjoy the thick silkiness of the broth anyway. There wasn’t too much complexity in this tea anymore, which was a little disappointing. I was able to get some subtle dark cherry and woody notes from each steep though, which felt redemptive. all in all it was unmemorable few steeps.

Not using a number rating for this review, simply because the age and storage of this lil sample. It’s had a hard life XD

Finally drank the last bag of this! Got this on a whim while petsitting. I was drawn to the goth tin and the promise of a smoky vanilla tea. This tea did not disappoint! The tin gives off a wonderful aroma of caramel, vanilla, and smoked cedar-y goodness, with a slice of acrid alcohol. The blend is alcohol free, but has bourbon flavoring to it. The bourbon element gets a little lost to me, and the majority of flavors I get are a Lapsang Souchong with vanilla caramel flavor. To be honest, i find that much more appealing. The flavors are very kind to the black tea base, with complementary flavor notes of malty earth tones and baked bread. It did not take me long to go through this tea!

Going through the old tasting notes from my old account got me noticing how many beloved tea companies of mine have disappeared! This tea had me craving the vanilla black and various levels of smoked black teas that were a staple blend of the height of my Steepster hayday. Discovering all the brands that i really enjoyed sent me down a rabbit hole of 404 error messages. I’ll be pouring one out for every Tippy’s Tea, Townsend Tea (now that they just do kombucha), Joseph Wesley, and more today.

This is my black tea go to at work. It’s very forgiving if i happen to forget about it steeping for an extra couple minutes, bless it. When properly brewed I am warmed from the inside with a rich, chocolatey goodness. The smoke flavor is so subtle as to be non-existent unless compared to a regular degular black tea. Even through persistent brewing i get the malty, croissanty goodness until about steep #5 in my 120ml teapot. I’ve always had good cups from a JW tea, and can’t wait to finish this one. I never let it get cold.

This has been my daily drinker as of late. It’s delightfully refreshing! Grassy overtones and a silky smooth mouthfeel, I love this tea for fuss free drinking at work. I can usually get two good cups out of the bag if i pay attention to my steep times – I have found that 90seconds for steep #1 and 2 minutes for the second steep are ideal. So sad that their retail location uptown is closed! They had the best matcha lattes.