It is amazing to me how many different non-tea flavors and aromas you can find in tea. Bananas, orange creamsicles, gummy bears, artichokes… and now Dawn, which brings chocolate like no other. The dry leaves smell very nice, cocoa is the main thing that hits me but there’s more too – something that I can’t quite place vaguely reminds me of my trip to Japan. My girlfriend thinks there’s a bit of seaweedy smell, which might be it. Don’t let that put you off, though, the leaves smell very nice. The leaves are very long and full, something you rarely see in a black tea. Tiny steepers won’t work here!
I made it with a bit of milk, because I love milk tea so much. The actual brew was an olfactory and gustatory illusion – while sipping, it’s chocolate. Exhale, and it’s a lightish but smooth black tea, without the spice or vegetality you’ll find in most Darjeelings and Nilgiris. In my eyes, this is a very good thing. There is also a little of the woodiness or smokiness that is often quite strong in Chinese teas. It even took the the milk gracefully. In the end, it’s maybe the first light black tea that I can say I really like, without a “but”. Dawn is really a rare achievement – it’s not just a great tea, it’s great and unique.
As a final note… The Simple Leaf’s marketing on this tea is facepunchingly incredible. I dare you to look at those tea fields and those happy Indian dudes and read about sustainability and not buy some.
Thanks, Steepster, for pointing me towards this tea :D
HAHAHA! The Simple Leaf’s really taking advantage of social media to pull references to their teas, as well. Pretty cool, actually.
I’m glad to see that other people are enjoying this tea! It’s like Carolyn just pushed over a line of dominoes.