Thanks Sil for this one!
I have been wanting to try Kusmi for a long time. Glad to have had the chance to try this one. Before I double checked the description of this tea, I smelled the dry tea. It smelled like vanilla and cherries. Then I smelled the brewed tea and it smelled like a generic Ceylon breakfast tea. So my first thought was that there was some scent contamination. Then I read the description and thought, well I was right on the first smell. As the tea cooled, the brewed tea began to smell more of caramel, vanilla and cherries. After seeing the suggested brew temp of 195F, I think I might have used just too hot water, and that is why initially there wasn’t much smell. Happy it ended up working out in the end though.
The brewed tea tastes of vanilla and cherries. As it cools more and more, it has a thick, creamy texture. There is a very faint, sweet, citrousy type flavour, like orange campino candies. But I am not getting too much bergamot. This would definitely make a great after meal tea. It keeps getting better and better as it cools.