Sweet Honey Black Tea Organic

So I was sipping a cup of tea this morning and somehow managed to drop my iPhone straight into my cup, speaker end first. For now, it has been turned off and placed on top of the heater to dry. Hopefully, it will still work okay. It does smell pretty tasty right now, at least.

Anyway, this tea! I’m a sucker for any tea that naturally has honey notes. Usually, they come in the form of oolong. A black tea with honey notes sounded super interesting. And I’m just delving into the world of black teas too! I do taste sweet apricot honey notes in this tea, but it is not as prominent as I had hoped. It’s also a bit chocolatey, but not very much. Overall, it has all the qualities that I enjoy in tea, but in small amounts. I suppose one might say that it is well balanced and subtly tasty. There is no astringency nor bitterness. It’s a very good tea, but not outstanding. I’d drink it again without hesitation. :D

Tea of the morning… (SRP #45)

Leaves are large and loosely packed due to their size and very dark brown. The tea brews up a little lighter than I expected. Not a very red brew, but somewhere more caramel in color. Resteeps well which does help offset the cost a little. Definite notes of honey, but much lower on the cocoa notes that I usually search for on this type of tea. I don’t get as much of a complexity that I would need from a tea in this price range (just over $17 for 80 grams). I would choose Imperial Golden Monkey for a similar flavor profile from Upton at a slightly better price.

Usual teapot method at 4 minutes. Resteep at 5.

A very mild sweet tea with slight floral and slight resin fragrances. A nice tea for the morning but no substitute for the rich cocoa tastes and fragrances of my favorite teas.

This is a lovely black brew with twisty little dark leaves. When I smell the brewed leaves a hint of spiced orange and apricot come through. I think this is very comparable to a golden monkey or similar Fujian black tea though this is from Anhui. Its not as deep as my favorite Keemun or as complex as my favorite Darjeeling, but still quite tasty. There is a whiff of smokiness that is worked with the sweet honey notes and a bit of astringency at the front of the notes.