moroccan madness

This tea is the answer to a common conundrum of mine… what should I drink in the morning when I’m feeling under the weather? I need some caffeine to wake up, but I don’t want the astringency that I usually do in a morning cup. This tea is the answer – cooling peppermint blended in with malty assam (my favorite breakfast tea.) Now, you will note that I completely forgot that this contained black tea and had it at 10 pm… but never you mind. It will be great for mornings!

The tea leaves are really pretty, with the contrasting dark black and bright green colors. The smell is 100% peppermint, so I was expecting the mint to dominate. I let it brew 5 minutes – longer than I would usually let an assam go, but I like my tea strong. To my surprise, the mint doesn’t dominate at all. In fact, without any additions it’s mostly malty assam, with a cool finish. I added milk and sweetener, and the assam stood up nicely while allowing a little more mint through. This is not a mint tea, though as it cools I do get a little more mint. I think it would be decent iced, but it might be too minty. I like this much more than I thought I would, though it doesn’t replace my beloved “Read my lips” for a black tea/mint blend.

I’m not quite sure I enjoy this one, honestly… The black tea base has an interesting flavor, slightly bitter. And the mint isn’t what I expected – I was hoping for a sweet candy mint, or a very icy-cold mint (like their Brandy and Wintermint). It tastes vaguely minty, and very green, which just isn’t something I look for when wanting to drink a mint tea.