It’s time to celebrate another sipdown with a review. Honestly, I’m having trouble believing that I am only the second person to review this tea. Considering that this one has been around awhile and that Steven Smith Teamaker is an established name in the tea world, it is kind of hard for me to accept that this one has been passed over this much on Steepster. Anyway, this is a good, solid black tea.
I prepared this tea using the one step Western infusion I favor for non-Chinese black teas. I steeped approximately 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt additional infusions with this tea.
In the cup, the infused liquor showed a dark, somewhat brownish amber. On the nose, I picked up aromas of roasted nuts, leather, molasses, caramel, toffee, brown toast, flowers, and malt. In the mouth, this tea presented a rush of roasted nut, leather, molasses, caramel, toffee, brown toast, malt, stewed fruit (raisin, prune), and indistinct floral notes. The finish was heavy on caramel, nut, toast, and malt flavors, with just a hint of fruit and flowers lurking in the background. I also got that pronounced leafiness I get from many black teas from Sri Lanka.
All in all, this is a rock solid black tea. I wish the aromas and flavors were a little clearer at times, but still, this is good. I will mention that this tea comes off as being both strong and brisk, so if you are not a fan of those two qualities, this tea may be just a little too much for you. Even though I am not a huge fan of Ceylon black teas, I can appreciate this one with little effort. It would not be a tea I would pick for everyday drinking purposes, but as a strong and flavorful breakfast or afternoon tea, I could see this really hitting the spot. I think I would recommend this one to fans of stronger, brisker teas and/or to fans of Ceylon teas in general.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Brown Toast, Caramel, Floral, Fruity, Leather, Malt, Molasses, Raisins, Roasted Nuts, Toffee
