These soft twisted downy black tea leaves are long and slender, with a coloring that is just as wonderful as the cup – dark chocolate and coppery caramel, intertwined together. It’s hard to get past the beauty of the dry leaves, but truthfully the brew is just as grand. Let me say before moving on, the prominent aroma from the dry leaves is of shaved dark chocolate – slightly drier, chocolate dust in smell.
The leaves seem to unify in color during and after the infusion. The liquid is full bodied and carries the cocoa aroma to a creamier molasses taste as you finish the sip. The tea seems to hold out very nicely during each of the steepings.
I started with a longer western steep time on the first infusion, then switched to Gung Fu method for a few cups, then back to western. Now looking back, I should have started Gung Fu, then switched to western to get the best take on how the tea really develops. Nonetheless, I’m pretty sure that I enjoy a little longer steep time on this one, in order to get a little bit of the drier astringency feel to the mouth. At least that’s which way I prefer at the moment.
This is a great tea and it certainly speaks for itself. One you must try to fully appreciate it.
