Currently sipping on this one.
This is a really interesting Australian black tea that I got my mom to pick up for me on her vacation to BC; it was one of a couple teas from Terroir Tea Merchant that I was specifically interested in. I’ve had a few green teas from Australia now, but I think this is my first black tea? What’s really interesting to me is that basically Australia is modelling their tea growing after Japanese practices – but Japan isn’t exactly renowned for the black tea, are they? So I’m curious what exactly this will taste like…
The dry leaf is certainly inviting enough though; lots of sweet malt and cocoa notes coming off it, and a bit of an earthiness? I wonder how that will translate flavour wise.
Steeped up, I’m enjoying this one a lot! It’s very smooth and full bodied, with a thick soup that coats the inside of the mouth. The top notes are sweet, and are all elements/flavours that I would sort of associate with being inside of a bakery: malt, cocoa powder, honey, fresh baked bread, molasses, and a touch of cinnamon. The body is a bit deeper, a little more savory while still being sweet: malt, wood, dark chocolate, raisin bread, and maybe even something kind of like leather?
The finish is the really interesting part to me, though. It’s a lot less sweet than the rest of the sip, and has a bit more of a burnt toast and dense black pepper kind of thing going for it on top of that malty quality. It’s tickling the back of my throat in a similar way to how blends with actual black pepper or peppercorn in them do. It’s also a little drying.
I think right now I like this one on the whole, but I’m curious to explore it a little further and see if the flavour profile is consistent to what I’m getting from it now. I wish it was just a touch sweeter going into that finish because the black pepper tickling sensation isn’t my favourite thing ever. It’s not a deal breaker, though.
Royal milk tea is quite popular. That uses other countries black tea like Assam or Darjeeling. :)