An Irish Stout version oolong. (The first time I had a Guinness, I felt let down from my expectations, maybe because I was expecting some kind of lindt chocolate bar in beercan form.) The strength of the flavors, bless oolong processing, doesn’t let you down. The roast gives it a pronounced estery bourbon smell that you could like or hate depending on how much you’re into whiskey. My throat finds it slightly disagreeable, but after all, there are yunnan black teas with this kind of bourbon character. The smell in the cup is of chocolate. The base taste o the palate is all the things in the Red Buffalo, turned darker a notch — the peach tartness, the vetiver, the honey/nectar sweetness, the roasted greens. You can tell the material was strong and the separation of flavors, the length and distinctness of the aftertaste, as about on par with the Red Buffalo. Despite the family resemblance the heavy roast makes it quite its own kind of tea. I can’t steep this too astringent for my tastes – the bourbon aspects need some bitterness. With astringency comes a stronger spice element than the Red Buffalo. Longevity is about what the company description says — it could go for up to 5 steeps if you kept the temperature/time low and the leaves high.
It really bombed my stomach, though.
