I want to like this tea, I feel that it has potential. It brews a dark brown cup and smells of sweet cocoa dust. However, the first flavor to hit the mouth is roasted wood, the cocoa doesn’t come until sometime after and is followed by an extremely sweet, caramel aftertaste. Still, I felt it was missing something for me to really enjoy it.
Flavors: Caramel, Cocoa, Wood
My scale is simplified for the sake of consistency. The legend follows below:
100 – These teas are simply special. They are not only perfectly balanced, but also particularly appeal to my tastes, emotions, and always have a place in my cupboard.
90 – These teas are perfectly balanced, and have no downsides. I feel this is the highest objective rating I can give, and anything rated higher is simply a special fancy. The teas here are certainly among the best I’ve ever tasted.
80 – These teas are really good, but they may have downsides that are very particular to me. They may be generally well-balanced, but perhaps contain a flavor I’m not personally keen on. Nevertheless, these teas are solid and deserve a chance.
70 – These teas are just alright. Not particularly offensive, but nothing to write home about either. I wouldn’t warn anybody off them, but I wouldn’t restock them myself.
60 – Teas in this category have a fatal flaw or require some serious help, lots of milk and/or sugar, to be enjoyable. But at least they can be salvaged.
50 – This is the lowest reasonable category, in my opinion, as anything lower must either not be tea or altogether undrinkable. I was able to finish one cup of these teas for the sake of fairness, but that was probably all I could drink.
10 – This category is reserved for “teas” so offensive, I could not finish a full cup of one. I’ve yet to have such a bad tea, but I suppose anything is possible.
Alexandria, VA
