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October Sipdown Prompt – a tea that reminds you of falling leaves

My daughter who lives with us has been giving me support gifts and celebration gifts all throughout this recent breast cancer journey. Yesterday I was presented with the newest Alexander McCall Smith book and two teas from rare Tea Company for whom he wrote special short stories to be included in their tins of Lost Malawi tea, which he was given the privilege of naming. (She also gave me some of that tea – a favorite!)

I had noticed this one on their website and intended to try it someday and that day is here. My tastes have been off since my surgery, and I have to cast about in my mind to see if anything particular appeals to me, because a lot of things that I normally like seem a little unappetizing. It’s not that I am that poorly, just a weird thing that is probably quite temporary. Dry foods are mostly a big no. But I was really curious about this tea so I didn’t cast about to see what my body wanted, I just grabbed it.

It grabbed back.

I opened the pouch knowing that the description says it is smoked over guava leaves and was somehow taken by surprise that it smelled smokey. Eye opening. Enticing. Appetite stimulating.

I like smokey teas and I also like VERY smokey teas but I do want some quality tea flavor in there and not just a cup of char. The leaves were whole, long, twisted, deep brown and almost like an oolong in appearance. I steeped twice at 176F per instructions and went a full two minutes for the steep.

The result is a lovely cup of smoked tea that had me sniffing and thinking hard trying to decipher what notes I was getting that made it different from Lapsang Souchong. Brown sugar crossed my mind but that wasn’t it. Sweet. Yes, sweet. But…fruity. That’s it. Soft and subtle. Not sharp like the fruity muscatel edge of a darjeeling with drying grape must.

This tea is dried over burning guava leaves, a fortunate happenstance that came about when the guava leaves surrounding the tea fields were building up on the ground and attracting pests, so when they decided to rake and burn the guava leaves someone thought to try using them to dry and scent the tea.

I won’t say the fruity taste is like guava or is coming from the guava leaves. I think it is inherent in the tea leaf itself. This is a lovely smoked tea that is suitable for all times of day and is just different enough from Lapsang Souchong that if you like smoked teas you may want to give it a try.

I am unrolling the whole brown leaves and smoothing them out to paint in watercolor later. Somehow, seeing whole leaves makes me stop and think, “A half a world away, someone’s hands picked this tea and now it is here for me to enjoy. Bless them.” And that is what Rare Tea Company tries to do through Rare Charity. I can get behind that.