I went for it. The very first time I smelled this tea I was amazed that someone would drink such a smokey intensely flavoured tea (other than sweet flavours, and I do recall even asking the sales woman if they actually do sell it very often). Very malty and comforting to me now, but at the time I didn’t think I would like it (back when I was an always-add-things-to-my-tea type person.. not that that is a bad thing. I just find it hides flavours sometimes.)
Anyways.. so I just finished up 4/5 final exams (YAY! ONE MORE!) and thought I should buy some tea to reward myself (even though my Verdant tea order finally arrived today so I don’t have to stalk the mail man – Yay #2!). I walked away with a lot of tea today and a thermometer.
Dry: Little twisted black leaves. Nothing fancy. Smell is addictive. Really addictive (to be honest I have smelled it over 15 times since I got it two hours ago).
Liquor: Very dark.. I steeped it for about two minutes and thought that that was good based on color. The steep was a touch weak, so I popped the leaves back in and managed to forget about it for a while (therefore, no idea on steeping times). I tried it.. Very good.. though slightly bitter (my fault!.. brewing it like a true Russian zavarka almost!) I fixed this by adding hot water. There is no bitterness to this tea anymore. It is very smokey, though not overly so. Definitely malty and rich…Aftertaste reminds me of applewood smoked gouda for some reason and I love it.
I can definitely see myself making this on an extremely regular basis (especially considering it was only $5 for 50g). I’m sold. To be honest, this will probably replace coffee in the AM for me on most days.
