So I continue to venture outside my tea comfort zone with this one. On the sample bag, as you EU-swappers will note, it says, ‘not a black tea’, but as cteresa points out in the forum thread, it is actually black, but should be treated as a green. Now, I’m someone who tends to slap her greens and call them names (deep down they like it), that is, brew them at 100C with a 1.5-minute steep – because I mostly drink Lupicia greens, and, before someone jumps down my throat concerning this very touchy subject – this is what Lupicia themselves recommend.
Either way, I went for some form of compromise – 90C at 2 minutes. The O Dor themselves recommend 85C for 3:45-4:30 (very specific, I like your OCD, Théodor mon chéri) but I didn’t feel like anything too strong.
In the bag, this had a somewhat minty tang to it, which was surprising. I assume this is just how the freshness of this leaf comes off to me scent wise, seeing as there’s not the slightest hint of anything minty in the brewed cup.
This is one of those blacks that work for me, especially lightly brewed as in this case. I definitely wouldn’t turn down a cup, but it’s not a tea I will crave or think about in the future.
Thanks to cteresa for adding this one to the box!
[Sample from the second round of the EU Travelling Box, spring 2014.]
It´s too hot, way too hot, sorry! Treat this as if it was the gentlest of teas. 80 degrees, nevermind what Theodor says (and yesh, OCD. I got massives ammount of respect for companies which got different instructions for each tea)