My Black Friday order just came in, nad I’m very excited to finally taste this tea. When I opened the bag, I was greeted by a pleasant aroma of a well-roated blak tea. It’s actually not as strong as I thought it would be, but I’m no expert on roasting. The leaves themselves are a lot like the Zhu Rong balck tea, small and curly. I was a bit generous with the ammount of leaves that I used, and I used near-boiling water to steep them for 15 seconds. The resulting tea smells like chocolate, yet is actually surprisingly light colored and clear. The finitial taste is a very smooth and clear chocolate flavor, which fades rather quickly into a lingering sweet aftertaste. Teh aftertaste lasts for at least two minutes, but I’m not good at restraining myself for much more than that, so who knows how long it actually lasts.
Second cup, 10 second steep. The tea is already beginning to trasition, and a malty flavor has begun to assert itself, contrasting nicely with the chocolate flavor that was then main flavor. The aftertaste also greatly changed, having become less sweet and also fading after about 45 seconds. These developments were interesting, and I can’t wait to see how they continue for the next cup.
Third cup, 15 seconds. The tea continues to change, but it went in a bit of an unexpected direction. First of all, the chocolate is mostly gone from the flavor profile, and the tea actually sweetened a bit since the previous cup. Also, there is bit of somthing akin to really really weak citrus begining to make itself known, which is a bit confusing. Also, the malt flavor is getting very muddled, and I’m not sure where that is going either. So far, this tea has been very different than I expected, which is actually really nice. It’s fun to have a tea that keeps you guessing.
Music of the Day – Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, performed by the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, the University Chorus and Alumni Chorus, and the Pacific Boychoir.
Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEllLECo4OM
