yay, continuing my exploration of tea that are smoky but not too smoky…
I am finding this to be a delightful blend. I do see why people saw this is like Hu Kwa’s little sister. It has some of the same flavors as hu kwa, a slightly smoky barbeque-y type flavor but blended well with some other black teas – I think perhaps a ceylon and assam?
It’s a dark red lovely liquor to the tea. There is a lot of smoke but also a lingering sweetness in the finish. Mildly brisk but not overwhelmingly so, notes of tobacco present. This is another tea I would have to drink plain because milk or sugar would ruin it. I think between this and Russian Country from Harney I will have enough lapsang blends to last me for a while.
I did also do a second steep using the same leaves for only around 1 minute, the smokiness is mostly gone but it still has a light, sweet flavor kind of like a darker oolong. NICE!
This is really nice for an afternoon pickup! And yes, I really need to stop buying tea for a while. ;-)
