The first I tried this tea was a bust due to bad water. But now I have good water and some time to enjoy it.
The dry leaf smells like black tea, and not to be too obvious, but old wood. Wood from an old tree holding books. That part is not so obvious-my imagination cooked that up.
So 2 min with 190 F water, and pure malt layered by a woodsiness and chocolate hints. It’s dry overall, but sweet and smooth enough towards the end of the taste. It’s also got some fruitiness bordering between something like berry or cherry. Or the common weird fruity aftertaste from iced black tea. The same goes for steep two at 3 min, and three at 5 min.
This is definitely an old tree because it has that dry wood profile consistent with the aged black teas I’ve had (not to be confused with Pu-Erh), and the complexity comes more from the gradation of tastes upon drinking each cup over the cups in unison. As in it tastes pretty much the same in each cup with some variation, but most of that taste variation comes from the liquor moving down your tongue and throat.
I’d say it’s a stellar example of a black tea, but it is a black tea. Easily drinkable by anyone’s standards, it might disappoint people looking for something to Gong Fu with fewer leaves-although that’s totally possible with high gramage. I might add my notes gong fu, but for now, the short western is what I have because it is simple and easy.
