70

Hmmm, this is not what I expected from the dry aroma. In the bag, the tea was a lovely toasty pile of stemmy pieces. The almond cookie notes are what inspired me to brew this on a Sunday morning at 7 am. When it was covered in 175F water, though, a very intense roasted buttery corn scent filled the area. It went from the appeal of a dark toasted oolong to hot wet movie theater fare in a heartbeat.
After apprehensively pouring the liquid out of my little teapot and into a big pottery mug, I immediately disposed of my leaves because I didn’t think I could stomach another cup of that stuff after this one. The liquor came out of the spout as a deep amber, and the aroma was slightly more straw-like and less Flavacol-saturated popcorn (a definite relief.) My first instinct after tasting the hot brew was to spit it back into the cup because my taste buds didn’t know what do to with it. (I did not because I had just eaten an apple and didn’t want any of that in my cup with this stuff. I persevered.)
After getting used to it, though? And letting it cool a bit so the steam isn’t punching me in the face with that popcorn aroma? Much better. It’s a very dry, savory tea at the start of the sip and yeasty in the mouth. Lots of freshly baked bread notes. If you’re looking for a tea with natural sweetness, this isn’t it, as it’s purely savory with the exception of what could be a jam note but feels like tomato-y rosehip in the aftertaste. It was easier to finish than I expected and I think that this would hit the spot for anyone who prefers dry, umami teas without any vegetal notes. I can’t fault it for the toastiness simply because I’m used to naturally sweet teas with fruity tones.
Not my personal cup of tea, but it’s well-rounded and worth trying.

Flavors: Brown Toast, Popcorn, Straw, Toasty, Yeast

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 15 sec 3 g 14 OZ / 414 ML

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Bio

Eel and tea lover. Big fan of dark oolongs, Nepal blacks, and fruity herbals. I occasionally make the terrible mistake of trying weird teas and then spend a good 5 minutes scrubbing my tongue with a toothbrush trying to get the taste out of my mouth.

Ratings:
100: Downright addictive.
95+: A definite favorite. This is something I’ll reach for again when I want something special.
90-95: I’d drink this again without question. There’s probably 4 ounces of it sitting by the tea kettle.
80-89: I’m glad I tried this and I’ll happily drink through the rest of the pouch. Might not be on the reorder list, though.
60-79: This is either mediocre and acceptable or I hate it and don’t want to skew the rating.
40-59: Uh, this is drinkable. Probably.
20-39: We’re entering the abyss. Here lies danger.
1-19: Please take me out if I ever try to brew this one again.

If I’ve recently reviewed something that you’d like to try, let me know! I usually buy teas in 25 gram samples and have extra to pass around.

Location

USA

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