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Steep notes: no additives, 1 packet of leaf to my gaiwan (6 oz. capacity)

Dry leaf smell: chocolate covered raisins? Wow. Fruity and cocoa-y all at once…

steep one: 10 seconds, Um, smell has changed to burnt french fries. I remember this. I also remember not really preferring this particular iteration, if I’m honest. Still, as long as we’re getting into semantics, this isn’t smoky – it’s just char. So I don’t outright dislike it. As it cools I taste a starchy bread undertone. maybe a hint of burnt sugar/caramel. Come to think of it, I don’t think anything burnt was actually in the taste – just the smell. I can live with this.

steep two: 20 seconds, mostly because my hands just aren’t fast enough to get everything poured any faster. This steep smells more like burnt sweet potato fries. Taste is more chocolaty – dark cocoa powder.

steep three: 35-ish seconds. Leaves smell ashy/charred but the liquor smells caramel sweet. This makes me happy. Taste is sweet, smooth vanilla caramel.

steep four: 1 minute. I’m amazed at how those leaves smell so different than the steeped liquor or taste. Now the caramel has transitioned into a honey note. But its got kind of a roasty flavor in the background, so…honey on toast? Its interesting how the liquor seems to get sweeter with each steeping, which I am loving!

steep five: 3 minutes. Multiple steepings are always so hard for me because I just don’t drink alot of any drink at once, unless I’m eating dinner. The fact that I’ve gone 5 rounds (so, 30 oz) with this in an hour is actually pretty darn impressive. Flavor has changed to what I thought the initial smell of the leaf reminded me of – chocolate covered raisins. It’s more of the unsweetened cocoa powder than milk chocolate though. Still a very nectary mouthfeel, even though I’m five steeps in. I’m not going to be able to hold any more tea tonight though, so I’ll save the leaves in my gaiwan for tomorrow.

I can’t believe how long its been since I’ve had this – long enough that its not in stock anymore. Still, it was a nice relaxing tea to end the weekend on. Time to get ready for bed and start a new week!