And now for something completely different.
When I placed my The O Dor order a while back this one seemed too strange to pass up. And it is indeed very, very strange.
First off, the smell out of the tin is the smell of latex house paint. Seriously, I kid you not. Given the list of ingredients, I was expecting to see bits of vegetables in here. I’m not seeing that upon opening the tin, but there are some really large flower petals, much bigger than I’ve seen in other blends. One is so long that initially, I mistook it for a red pepper.
This steeps to a dark reddish brown color. It still has a bit of paint to the smell after steeping, but its now has something else which is sort of like lentils. I wonder if those are in here, maybe they’re the legumes. There’s a peppery note, too.
The flavor, thankfully, is not at all paint like. But it is very hard to describe. It has a savory spice note, a hint of rosemary maybe. It reminds me of the spice mixtures in Italian restaurants that give the olive oil you dip your bread in its flavor. That same type of mixture sometimes tops specialty breads. I’m not able to identify the currant, but I am able to get a mixed vegetable note that is sort of like a hint of ratatouille. There is a sweetness in the aftertaste that’s kind of surprising given the savory quality of the tea.
This is a really unique tea, and something I need to sit with for a while. I give it points for its ingenuity in bringing together flavors not usually used in black tea mixes. I’ve had similar flavors in teas before (the savory spices) but they were always in herbal blends. I’m not really sure how to rate it. On the one hand I’m kind of charmed by the whole idea of it. On the other, it’s not something I see myself drinking frequently, and I’m not sure how likely it is to be a reorder now that I’ve satisfied my curiosity.
