Ok, I’m bumping up my rating on this one a few points (from 70 to 75) for a very good reason: this tea appears to be impossible to fuck up.
A few days ago when I first tried it, I thought it tasted pretty bland, and figured that the problem was I steeped it for too short a time. However, precisely because of its blah nature, it seemed like it would be the perfect morning tea when I couldn’t figure out what else to have.
So I made it again this morning, and made sure to add a little extra leaf to the mix to see if that would spice things up. I also told myself that I would steep it for a full 5 minutes instead of 3.
Then I prepared my breakfast… and completely forgot the tea was steeping. When I looked up at the clock, not 5 minutes had elapsed, but 8 or 9. So I both overleafed and oversteeped this thing!
I was trepidatious when I put the first cup to my lips after I finished my breakfast. I was expecting a cloying, bitter mess.
Nope. Perfectly smooth, non-astringent (well, maybe slightly astringent, but only 1 on a scale of 1-10), and still really unassuming.
This is the perfect baby-steps tea for someone who is new to black tea in general. And thusly, I will probably slot it into my regular rotation as I expand more and more into drinking black tea. I have a nice 2nd-flush Darjeeling I plan to whip out tomorrow, but this is pretty good in the meantime.
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I tend to enjoy the more subtle teas – I love silver needle for instance. So, for me this was a really good Chinese black with a touch of smoke. I agree Chinese black teas generally take steeping abuse well.
Actually, it was your positive notes about this tea that convinced me to add it to my order. You enabler you!
We all have our parts to play. ;) I really should occasionally mention my love of subtle and my lack of noticing astringency unless it is uber-atringent.
I just read your blog post on this one. I really enjoyed your angle on the review. Cool idea.
I tend to enjoy the more subtle teas – I love silver needle for instance. So, for me this was a really good Chinese black with a touch of smoke. I agree Chinese black teas generally take steeping abuse well.
Actually, it was your positive notes about this tea that convinced me to add it to my order. You enabler you!
We all have our parts to play. ;) I really should occasionally mention my love of subtle and my lack of noticing astringency unless it is uber-atringent.
I just read your blog post on this one. I really enjoyed your angle on the review. Cool idea.