Special Tea

My first try from the EU TTB Round 4!

This one sounded interesting, but I didn’t get anything that smelled like plum from the dry leaf. The liquor once brewed also had no plum scent, which was disappointing, but had I been expecting an unflavoured black tea I would have said the scent was pleasant. I initially planned to have this with milk and sugar, because the weather is awful and I wanted an autumn warmer, but we were out of sugar so I ended up drinking it plain. There’s no way I’m going to the shops in this weather! I’m actually glad I did, because it’s a really nice subtly flavour which I think would have been overwhelmed by the addition of milk and sugar. It’s a delicate malty tea which I don’t think would hold up too well to milk, and an even more delicate whisper of plum aftertaste. It pairs with the tea base really well, and is a nice delicate cup of tea on the whole, but maybe not what I was looking for this afternoon. Maybe I’d enjoy it more on a nicer day. I’ve got plenty of other teas to be getting on with (the box is stuffed!) but this one might come out again towards the end of my time with the ttb.

From the EU TTB

I picked this one out as my first try, largely because it’s a colder day today and I feel like something a little more autumnal. Plum says autumn to me! I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk.

To taste, this is pretty much a standard black tea. It’s sweet and malty, with just the slightest bit of astringent bite at the end of the sip. There’s a hint of something fruity and plum like in the aftertaste, but it’s fleeting and barely there. Still, it’s nice while it lasts! I could have taken a lot more plum flavour in this one, but it’s still a pleasant, straightforward black tea for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Having this tea as a re-visit since I didn’t rate it. Mostly because I couldn’t taste ANY plum flavour at all. So today I will try again and see if my husband notices anything too.

A few sips in and I still can’t taste plum. My husband replied that it may be for people that drink tea, I started at him (sometimes he thinks I love tea more than I love him) and he said “It’s a tea with plum and not a plum tea, it’s for people that want something ‘different’ but also the same”. I never thought about it that way before. Bragging rights and experimentation without actually putting yourself out there.

Still, it’s a nice black tea but nothing special….and I really REALLY wanted to taste the plum. So I will rate this tea, as it is a strong and drinkable black, but it will get down rated slightly for the complete lack of plum flavour.

This was a surprise gift thanks to my RedditGifts SS as part of the colour exchange. My favourite colour is purple, specifically heather or plum. So far I have 8oz/227g of this tea, a black plum blossom candle and some purple eyeshadow. Apparently more is coming! I do feel spoilt.

Opening the tea and putting half into a tin I notice the beautiful safflowers, the contrast is lovely to look at. The blend consists of small, dark brown tea leaves that are twisted and broken with some stem/sticks present. Amongst them the red safflowers.
http://instagram.com/p/zSfqJgsd9T/?modal=true

It has a rich malt and wood scent with some mild sweetness. So far it smells like a pure black tea, interesting.

Once steeped it still smells like a standard black tea…where is the plum?

Flavour is dark and wooden with some smoke and malt tones. It leaves a slight sweet flavour in the after taste, like honey though very light. Though I am still left asking….where is the plum? It has not been present in scent nor flavour and other than a mild sweetness there is nothing out of the ordinary for this black tea. Very strange.

It’s a fairly nice black tea, not plum flavoured but another tea I can crack out the milk and sugar for on a Sunday is always handy.