Azores Broken Leaf Black

So, funny story.

Continuing on my What-Cha streak, I pulled this out to try today. I have never had a tea from The Azores before, and that intrigued me. The leaf had several different colors in it and looked really interesting. The scent was hearty black.

Much to my surprise, there was a really interesting top note to the tea. I am really bad at identifying those so I had my husband taste it and he thought it was berry. After a while I figured out that it is honey dew melon. And the way I know this is that yesterday I had Lupicia’s Golden Honey Dew and apparently didn’t rinse my steeper well enough, so that flavor was with this tea.

But you know what, I absolutely loved it, enough that if I could buy it, I would. In the meantime I will have this again next so I can tell you what the tea itself tastes like.

I’d never tried any tea from the Azores before, so this was a really interesting tea to try. The leaves were kinda chunky and blocky-looking; kind of a hallmark of a broken leaf tea, I think. The initial infusion started out red and deepened to a rich chocolate; the tea smelled bright and barky, with definite hints of maltiness. The cup was very smooth and subtle; this is a solid black tea with nice bright notes. Quite suitable for breakfast, I think!

I think next time I might brew this at a higher temperature next time; 200 seemed a bit low. The packet recommended 203, but my kettle doesn’t have that as a setting. I also think that this tea could have been a bit less subtle at times; there was no one flavor that sang out at me, and the first few sips were a little underwhelming when compared to the strength of the middle of the cup!