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Black Tea by Steven Smith Teamaker
“A toast to teamaker Tony Tellin for this unique “single malt” from Lover’s Leap garden in Nuwara Eliya. Dry-aged in genuine Rogue spirited oak whiskey barrels, it is re-fired for a complex aroma of honey and pears with a sweet, slightly smoky flavor. Drink neat in a cup or Mason jar. Non alcoholic.
Ingredients: Vintage Lover’s Leap full leaf black tea from Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, aged in American white oak whiskey barrels. Travels well in a flask."
Per liber-teas: http://www.teareviewblog.com/archives/16949
“…this tea was created in limited quantities and is most likely no longer available.”In fact, this tea is not currently listed on their black tea webpage: http://www.smithtea.com/shop/black/
Perhaps if enough tea lovers contact teamaker@smithtea.com • (503) 719-8752 • (800) 624-9531 this unique tea may be offered again.
I would add this to my permanent collection if I could.
Thanks to LiberTeas for the sample! I thought it would be a good kick in the butt this morning, but it’s much more than that!
Smooth, not bitter, and sweet! A great whiskey aftertaste – but the sweetness of the whiskey. Great body in this tea. I’m drinking with no additions – it doesn’t need any. Although… I think it would be a great iced tea with a hint of sugar. And a splash of whiskey.
I made it a point this morning to get up early and make the trek to Smith Teamaker’s brick-n-mortar shop to pick up some of this. I thought it’d be a perfect gift for my dad. Unfortunately, they were sold out of it. Luckily, they had just enough left for me to sample a pot. The black tea base was a Nuwara Eliya Ceylon given a couple months rest in a white oak whiskey barrel. The result was a bright amber liquor with a woody/smokey foretaste, a floral middle, and a winy/whiskey-like aftertaste; toasty but not bitey. This stuff is habit-forming.
Full Write-Up Here: http://www.lazyliteratus.com/1118
Oh… wow! A few weeks ago I was able to get to Steven Smith’s Tea Shop in Portland, and they only had 2 packages of this (they may have had more stashed away, but only two out on the shelf). I greedily grabbed one because it was the tea I had hoped to find there.
And, yes, I’m only just now trying it. What can I say, I have enough tea to fill the pacific ocean.
This is so good. So very very good. I should expect no less from the rock star of tea (Steven Smith, of course). Anyway… did I mention this is good? Yes, it’s very good.
A full-length review is forthcoming…
