Rainforest Strong Black Tea

Ommitted the lead up paragraph so on to the tea, if not abruptly.

The dry leaf has a smokey earthy smell with a malty overtone. Wet the leaves gain a sweetness to accompany the malt notes. The drink is not as dark or malty as I expected. There’s a slight compexity. There’s a touch of smoke that is very well proportioned to the vanilla sweetness I detect. A creamy mouthfeel is starting to reveal itself, though not too strong as of yet. There even seems to be a nuttiness offsetting the tinge of sour bitterness laced through the drink. That bitterness leans toward a chocolate-coffee at the back of the sip. Aftertaste is pleasant leaving my mouth with a clean sweetness, as well as some lingering malty notes.

I tried a second steep against the recommendations of AmazonV’s post (I was sure this came from you but address doesn’t match up-unless you really MOVED) and I should have listened. Though this tea is misnamed (strong black) I still found it very enjoyable and I thank whoever sent it to me.

tunes-the Avett Brothers= Pretend Love/Colorshow/The Ballad Of Love And Hate/Sanguine/SSS/Complainte D’vn Matelot Mourant/Signs

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea!

This is a wonderful black tea. It has a very pleasant sweetness that reminds me of raw sugar cane. This tea needn’t be sweetened – it is so wonderfully sweet just the way it is.

With my first couple of sips, I noticed a similarity to an Oolong with the soft mouthfeel and the smoothness in flavor, as well as a hint of vegetative flavor that hits right before the finish, and I thought maybe my mind was playing tricks on me because I had recently tasted another Tao of Tea black and found it to be also quite similar to an Oolong in some respects. But then I read AmazonV’s review of this tea and saw that she too had noticed the Oolong similarities, so I guess maybe my mind is not playing tricks after all. The malty tones to this tea play to the soft mouthfeel very well, giving it a pleasant thickness but without the strong, hefty kind of note that you might find in, say, an Assam black.

It is very smooth, but there is a certain rustic edge to it too. There is a moderate amount of astringency, and a hint of savory bitterness (almost like bitter chocolate) toward mid-sip that I think is almost essential given the sweetness of this tea. I taste a note of fruit about mid-sip as well. The information about this tea on the website suggests a cherry flavor, and I kind of get that, but this isn’t one of those syrupy sweet kinds of cherry flavor (this is not cough syrup cherry), but more of a insinuation of cherry that doesn’t quite become fully recognized.

An excellent black tea, even if it isn’t quite as strong as the name might suggest.

My assumptions:
This tea would be darker than dark! A pure black brew! Stronger than strong…almost coffee-like.

I was wrong!

The color was a light brown. The taste was strong but not a thick black chewy tea taste is was astringent and almost darjeeling tasting.

This was quite good just much different from what I was expecting!

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 heaping tsp
Water: 500ml 180°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: vegetal yet malty or maybe toasty
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, chocolate
Flavor: malty, thick mouthfeel
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet
Liquor: opaque light orange brown

A naturally sweet, mild (despite the name strong) black tea. It reminds me of an oolong with the hints of vegetal green-ness that sneak into the end of each sip.

Resteep:
Water: 500ml 180°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 4 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, chocolate
Flavor: Thin, malty
Body: Light
Aftertaste: astringent
Liquor: opaque light orange brown

I don’t recommend re-steeping.

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/09/tao-of-tea-loose-leaf-black-tea.html

I picked up a tin of this tea at a relatively new tea store on Lexington Ave in Manhattan and was thinking DARK and FULL BODIED, perhaps a great winter tea, or fatigue fighter. That is not what brewed. Instead the brew is actually rather light and not as intense as the label suggests. The taste is more delicate than brute, and in fact is quite pleasant and neatly fragrant. I’ve been using lately as an iced tea and rather enjoy it this way.

★★★☆☆