This came out a very strong brown color. It has a nice light smell to it, fruity, mostly like berries. The taste of this brew is what is interesting because it is a complex bunch of flavors. The beginning of the tea is light and fruity. Specifically it tastes like berries, but not so much that it overpowers the roasted, earthen, smoked taste that fills your mouth all at once. In the middle of the sip there is a bit of astringency that starts to soak the flavor out of the tea until you hit a flavor dry spell. It lasts for just a little bit, but it is sort of like drinking sand. As a beautiful end note, the flavor of the rose petals starts to soak in and give the tea a floral tone that gets sweeter and sweeter through the end until it tastes a little bit like honey.
More information about this at my blog.
http://teasnobbery.com/2010/11/12/tea-review-shalimar-rose-oolong/
