I had nearly forgotten this one. It was only because I went to remove the orange pu-erh that Wombatgirl gave me (and which turned out to be my preferred morning travel cup tea) that I was reminded of this one. So now I’m using the other half of the sample, also sent to me by Wombatgirl, and can remove this from my cupboard as well.
(Actually I rather suspect my cupboard might need some general cleaning up because there are things in there I would swear have been gone for a long time… Must have a poke through the Basket O’ Samples soon and figure it out.)
I’m following instructions this time, and the instructed steeping time is 3-5 minutes. I did a cautious 3. Although it felt really weird to do it. 3 minutes is an eternity when you start at 1 minute by standard!
OW! I burned by bongue! Ow….!
The aroma at any rate is lovely. It’s got substance. A sweetish, somewhat heavy body of something like cocoa, and a spicy note floating on top which for me is enhancing the cocoa of the body.
After a reasonable cooling time, I’m trying again, and what I get is remarkably sweet. It’s not quite that thick honey note I found in an Assam that One Enchanted Time, nor is it really a strong kind of chocolate-y cocoa-y thing. But it is sweet.
It starts with a slightly wooden oaky note and then the sweetness comes. This sweetness that is so hard to pin down. More dark syrup than sugar. Slightly spicy and sweet at the same, almost biscuit-y. And finally a finish with a good flash of cinnamon. Yes, biscuits is a good comparison really.
This makes it sound like something that’s primarily a dessert tea, but this is not actually true. It’s got a strong flavour that makes it good for most any time of day.
I rather liked this one, and I would definitely recommend that others try it too.
