A sample from Angel at Teavivre, and fairly long overdue thanks to various winter illnesses. Apologies, Angel! I’m glad I reserved this one until I was feeling better, though, because it’s clearly a tea to be savoured. The dry leaf is thin and wiry, and the scent is beautiful; cocoa, grain and honey! I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 2.5 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a medium golden brown, and smells deliciously chocolatey.
To taste, I can immediately detect cocoa, which quite dry and almost powdery, and sweet malt which lingers beautifully. The mid-sip contains a hint of smoke, almost like burnt toast, but it’s by no means overwhelming. There’s also a touch of syrupy sweetness reminiscent of sugarcane. The flavours are quite heavy and “dark” tasting, but the tea itself is smooth and very easy to drink for the most part. A tiny bit of astringency creeps in as the cup stars to cool, but it remains entirely peripheral so it’s not too much of a bother. The flavours linger long in the aftertaste, which is very pleasant, and as they mellow out it’s possible to find the honey and a light floral reminiscent of orchid. It’s completely delicious!
I can see why Angel included this as part of a winter tea tasting pack. It would be the perfect warming cup on a cold, dark day. It’s equally pleasant on a cool, crisp spring day, though, and in actual fact it’s a tea I could happily drink all year round. Definitely one I’ll stock up on once I’ve finished my samples!
