It kind of seems like I’m having a straight-black-tea-a-thon lately, doesn’t it?
We received our black sampler from Adagio today, from the sneakpeeq deal with the IngenuiTea… so a big thank you to whomever posted that on the forums! I’d go look it up… but… no.
This is a very smooth tea with a dark, coppery color in the pot. The smell is… well… about what you expect from a straight black. The beverage itself has a somewhat medium weight to it, it isn’t thin by any means, but it doesn’t have that mealy thickness that some teas get. Not that mealy thickness is a bad thing, by any means.
There is a malty, light grainy flavor to the tea, with a somewhat noticeable honey flavor in the aftertaste. It’s a fairly solid tea, and I could see it being kept around. I would compare this to the tarantulas from Teavana that I have made a few times before (really, my only straight Yunnan comparison). I think the tarantulas were a slightly higher quality and richer flavored Yunnan than this one. Though, this isn’t a discontinued product… so it should probably* get a couple points for that.
*it doesn’t.
Oh a rainy weekend, Alfred Hitchcock and copious pots of black tea sounds stupendous!
This would be the perfect area for that. I love Washington for the rain.