This was one of the first teas I tried, and one of the first teas I really, really did not like. I picked some up again because, as I grow to better understand brewing and how to make a good cup of tea, I am retrying some of my early misses to see if I can coax something better out of the teas. In this case, I have always loved the smell of the dry leaves, but I could not get past the bitterness of the base tea.
Tonight I brewed it very carefully, paying close attention to both the water temperature and the brew time. By keeping the temperature a bit lower and the brew time a bit shorter and I got a lovely strawberry heavy, chocolate tea. The base tea is strong, but not unpleasant and I managed to keep it from being astringent. I am really glad I gave this tea another chance. I want to try it a few more times but, if it continues to turn out this pleasantly, I am going to have to bump up my rating!
