Pretty unbelievable that this has no notes yet.
I got a little derailed from my “try everything in the cupboard once and write a note about it” project yesterday. I was feeling pretty drained and washed out so I only made it through two black teas. I’m feeling a little better today so we’ll see how far I get.
Anyway, A&D has cute descriptions of their teas but they are more artistic than functional. This one, for example, doesn’t say what sort of Indian black tea it is or whether it is a blend. The leaves look more like Nilgiri leaves to me than anything else, though I suppose they could be Ceylon. The flavor is bready with a bit of throat grab like Assam. Maybe it is a mix. I can usually tell Ceylon by its color after steeping, but yesterday a Ceylon blend that didn’t have the color baffled me so who knows.
The leaves do smell a little like the Double Knit Blend leaves, a sort of earthy smell with a muted sharp note. Which argues for Ceylon, since that was what was in Double Knit.
The tea has a bready smell after steeping and is a clear, dark amber.
It has a mild flavor, which is surprising. I expected something rocket-fuel-strong from the extended racing metaphor. It is medium-light bodied and a bit brisk.
It’s the kind of Indian tea/blend that makes you think of “tea” as the flavor. That sort of classic, essential tea-ness that those of us who grew up with Lipton as the only choice associate with tea. It has a slightly sweet aftertaste.
It’s much more flavorful than Lipton tea bags. It’s as though someone took that flavor and photoshopped it into something enhanced.
It’s very good, but it doesn’t send me into the stratosphere like yesterday’s blends with China blacks in them.
Flavors: Bread, Earth, Tea
Preparation
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I would love to know your thoughts on the best A&D teas. They’ve just restocked and I want to order a 3-pack.
I’ve already decided on Black Sunshine and Tiger Assam, but am wavering between Caravan Resurrected and Double Knit for the third tin…
Caravan is one of my favorites. I would go with that unless you don’t like smoke. The smoke isn’t heavy, it’s just sort of a side note. But if you hate smoke it could be a problem.
I’ll keep that in mind! I ended up going with Mount Gray for the third tin. For some reason I’d forgotten about it, LOL!
I would love to know your thoughts on the best A&D teas. They’ve just restocked and I want to order a 3-pack.
I’ve already decided on Black Sunshine and Tiger Assam, but am wavering between Caravan Resurrected and Double Knit for the third tin…
Caravan is one of my favorites. I would go with that unless you don’t like smoke. The smoke isn’t heavy, it’s just sort of a side note. But if you hate smoke it could be a problem.
I’ll keep that in mind! I ended up going with Mount Gray for the third tin. For some reason I’d forgotten about it, LOL!