Dry the leaves were very dark and spindly. I brewed this western style this afternoon.
What I noticed first about this tea was how bready/malty it was. It had a pretty good caffeine kick too but I’m a bit sensitive to caffeine so I would feel it more than some. There were stone fruit notes right away. I think I accidentally got the temperature a little higher than I meant to (I was brewing this at work) but it still was very good. As it cooled the chocolate notes came out along with raisins. I didn’t get any of the smoke taste others got but that was fine with me as I don’t like smoke in my tea. It was very full bodied and flavourful.
Flavors: Bread, Chocolate, Malt, Raisins, Stonefruit