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I guess I reviewed this before and didn’t have much luck.

I am grateful that Angel sent over more samples of this for me to try, because according to everyone else’s tasting notes, I should definitely give it another go.

I need to try it again to really form a proper opinion, I still feel so ignorant compared to everyone else. “wheat toast with honey, cocoa notes with a campfire in the distance…”… yeah. I don’t get that.

All I could really compare this to was the Mao Feng Keemun, which I really liked. I found this one to be much less sweet, and I didn’t get any cocoa notes, personally. But I think my bar for cocoa notes in straight black tea has been raised up to the Verdant Laoshan Black level, and so anything less is hard for me to discern. (I used that word twice today, WOTD!)

First impression, a tiny bit of smoke, slightly bitter…. mineral?? I don’t even know what that means. I wish there was a tea school near me so I could learn to train my tongue. But I guess that would just entail someone telling me what I’m supposed to taste, me nodding with a blank face while getting really mad that I still just taste straight tea. What’s in this cup?? TEA. Also in that cup. Still tea, guys.

I can note a difference between different types of tea (like, darjeeling vs. assam vs pu-erh vs oolong, for example), and when there’s a painfully obvious flavour profile, I’m all over that (LB, or a tea with vanilla beans cut in – G.O.)… but LAWDY do I ever have troubles catching specific notes in a tea like this one.

I am truly envious of all you “whole grain toast with honey slathered on top and a mug of hot cocoa in front of a campfire” people!!!

But that being said, I know I’ve come a LONG way. And I always know when I love a tea, I just can’t always verbalize WHY. Someday, tongue. You and the brain will be on the same page.

I will try this one later, I would like to write a better review for Teavivre!