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I have tried this tea again, this time with just milk and also with milk and demerara sugar. The milk naturally made it smoother, but I don’t think the flavor profile is particularly improved by it’s addition. This tea continues to taste like it’s hopelessly missing an element of flavor.

I wasn’t crazy about this tea, but it’s starting to grow on me. On my second try I decided to add a cube of demerara sugar. This made the tea sweet both at the start and at the back, which was not an improvement. I couldn’t taste any of the demerara’s characteristic caramel sweetness, which I was hoping would compliment this tea’s flavor profile. I held off the sugar for my second cup and found I preferred it unsweetened. It’s still missing something, but I’m determined to give it another try.

I want to like this tea, I feel that it has potential. It brews a dark brown cup and smells of sweet cocoa dust. However, the first flavor to hit the mouth is roasted wood, the cocoa doesn’t come until sometime after and is followed by an extremely sweet, caramel aftertaste. Still, I felt it was missing something for me to really enjoy it.

The fifth steeping was my final one, since the tea lost almost all flavor by this point. This was also evident in its nearly colorless liquor. I should note that each steeping time was increased by 15 seconds as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Also, although the fourth steeping still had much of the original flavor, I would not recommend going beyond the third steeping if one is to do justice to the original quality of this tea.

The fourth steeping of this tea saw the loss of its initial smoothness, in addition to growing yet weaker in flavor.

Third steeping the tea grows weaker but continues to more or less maintain its flavor profile.

I did a second steeping and found this tea to remain quite rich still. Incidentally, I would not recommend pairing it with any greasy or heavy foods, as together it can be too much. Instead, light and cool desserts might pair best. I will attempt a third steeping and update.

Recently, as my tea palate has improved, I have grown very fond of oolongs, which always seem to have an astounding complexity of flavor that arises purely from the leaves and their processing, rather than added flavors. This tea is no exception. It has a strong, sweet aroma. It is creamy at the back of the throat and finishes very sweet, like cream and honeydew.

I’d recommend this to anyone interested in oolongs or green tea (it’s a very green oolong). It is a light, yet flavorful, and comforting cup of tea. I will update on multiple infusions.