A sample of 10 grams included in the Black Tea Sampler I purchased from Vahdam. I decided to go crazy tonight and brew the whole sample at once. Yeah, sometimes I live life on the wild side here.
I steeped the tea using 10 grams in 20 ounces of water. I brewed it for 3 minutes, 30 seconds using nearly boiling water.
Prior to brewing the tea, the dried leaves were all whole, orthodox leaves. They were vibrant colors of gold, silver, green, and dark brown. I didn’t see any stems in my initial glance.
The tea brewed into a liquor the color of honey. Based on the picture from the website (same picture used here on Steepster), I was expecting something much lighter, but this was a nice amber color. The liquor had a floral scent to it—very similar to other first flushes I’ve had.
The first flavor I noticed, though, was a woody flavor, along with wet hay. That sounds worse than it actually was, since this combination was very pleasant. After a few sips and swirls in my mouth, I also picked up a very slight taste of oatmeal in the tea. The floral aroma translated into a floral aftertaste, but it was not a flavor present with the tea itself.
I enjoyed this tea tremendously. I wish I hadn’t used my whole sample tonight, but it was a great tea to have this evening after I finished mowing the lawn and was relaxing for the evening. I will look into buying more of this, but I don’t know how long of a shelf life this would have—it would have to be ordered in small amounts, I think, in order to truly appreciate the flavor.
NOTE: The package I used had a date of picking of 8 April 2017.
Flavors: Floral, Hay, Oats, Wood
