I am consistently impressed by the quality of the Tea Haus’s black teas. They do not give into the temptation of using a lower-quality black just because the blend is stuffed with other goodies.
That said, this was definitely an interesting drinking experience – and I think a part of that is becasue it took me six hours to finish one travel mug of it at work. At first, when still almost-boiling, it was overwhelming in both scent and flavour, with a lot of sweetness from the apple and a bit of zip from the lemon, and the underlying ginger fuzziness. As it cooled, it lost a lot of that sweetness and gained kind of a leafy taste. I’m not sure exactly how to explain it, but it was floral without being sweet, more like a very earthy herbal. Strangely, it reminded me of DT’s Chocolate Rocket when it begins to cool. It was definitely an odd drinking experience. I wouldn’t say it’s unpleasant, but I also wouldn’t say it was delicious. It was just . . . odd. I must mull this over another cuppa.