Look what I found!
Let’s revisit the story of this tea, shall we? I used to get this from Luka, the local shop where I live, but as I was pretty much the only person interested in smokies they took it off the shelf. When I was told this, they let me buy the lot of what they had left which turned out to be some 600g or so. I was then promised that when that ran out, if I wanted some more, I could just let them know and they would make sure to get something for me then next time they ordered from their supplier.
I took most of it with me to work and drank it there for several months, and after I was done with it, I’ve never taken advantage of the offer to have them get me some more specially. I was sort of sated, you know? But then yesterday I found this little bit squirreled away in the lunch room cupboard at work, all lost and forgotten. So I took it home with me and have now made me a cup. There isn’t very much of it, only enough for one, maybe two, small pots after this one.You know, I’m thinking when I’ve had this again (and when I’ve actually got some spending money again, can we has pay day soon?) maybe I will stop in at that shop and see if the offer still stands. It might be nice to have some of it back again.
It’s been so long since I’ve had it I’d pretty much forgotten all the details of it, but then the first sip was of something so extremely familiar (well it would have to be, wouldn’t it, having got through a whole pound!) that I just fell right back into it.
I’ve made it a bit strong this morning, but I’m probably steeping considerably shorter than I used to do when I had it last, so there should be more steeps in it than I remember. Plan is to keep going at this one for the better part of the day.
It’s turned into something oddly dual layered. There’s the pang of prickly lapsang smoke and underneath that the heartier blend of green and english breakfast with the sweeter notes of LS. The bottom layer is all thick and viscous and it feels like there might actually be milk in it, even though there isn’t.
I have to say I recall it being more evenly blended, but then again, who knows how long those leaves have been hiding at the back of that cupboard and I’m not brewing the exact same way anymore either.
