This is one that got lost in the shuffle of all of my new tea. Pulled it out from a pile this morning. When I opened the package, I got a very nice creamy berry type of smell. Not tart dried/dehydrated berry but very sweet and creamy.
When brewed, the dry leaves initially send up a classic, high quality, malted honey scent that I am familiar with in well done black tea. But, what is this? I stick my nose a little closer and there is that berry scent again. Hot damn! This is almost unlike any scent I’ve gotten from tea before. It is kind of like a mixed berry because I detect hints of blackberry, blueberry, strawberry but I can’t really nail it down to one specific kind as being the most dominant.
My first steep was admittedly light in that I let the tea brew for about 15 seconds. But, as we know, in gongfu style most of the first (and sometimes second) steeps are a bit lighter until the water really gets a chance to saturate the leaves. But the promise is there in a light malt and, again(!), fruit flavor.
The leaves on the second steep smell more of the same. The liquor looks a bit darker despite leaving the steep at 15 seconds, which is to be expected. But when I say darker, I mean it is a buttery blonde color at this point. Not dark in the traditional black tea sense. The berry flavor has intensified where now I can taste it on my lips even a few moments after taking a sip.
Honestly, this is one of those kind of teas that makes me fall in love with tea all over again. It makes drinking through all of those bad or mediocre ho-hum teas worthwhile. A true delight.
Flavors: Berry, Cream, Honey, Malt
