Colombia Bitaco Black Tea

A gentle but slightly punchy tea for this beautiful and quiet morning. The twisted leaf is a dark chocolate color. It bathes in a brittle desert wood aroma. Strangekess occurs with the wet aroma as marine notes mingle worh compost and deep woods. Not fishy like a pu er but a pure marine aroma, almost as if standing by the ocean. Though the ocean I refer to is the Northwest, such as Washington or Oregon. The ocean smells different in different places. A woodsy orchestra of flavor. Twigs, wet branches, slight compost, wet forest floor, and a mix of other boards of wood. The mouth feel is soft with a bit of astringency. Good morning.

132/365

Another from the Regional Group Buy. This is the January 2016 harvest.

Although I gave this a fairly conservative steep time, it’s surprisingly bitter and smoky even from first sip. Although smoky perhaps isn’t too unusual in flavour terms for a strong black, I found it quite jarringly unexpected. I imagine that has more to do with the other teas I’ve been drinking today that anything else, though.

Once I got myself acclimatised, I actually enjoyed it more than I expected to. I’m not the greatest fan of smoky tea, but here it works well with the backbone of malt and the degree of substance this one seems to have. It’s hard to know how to put that into words, but it comes across to me as a “heavy” tea, with thick flavours that would almost give it weight if such a thing were possible. It’s not a tea of the light and refreshing summer-day variety.

That being said, it’s not overpowering either. It’s a smoky-savoury black with a touch of background sweetness. The sweetness becomes more apparent as it cools, just as the smokiness begins to fade into the background. It’s certainly more complex than some straight blacks I’ve tried recently; a tea that requires thought more than mindless sipping. It wouldn’t be an everyday tea for me, but it’s certainly an interesting one and more unusual than most.

I did a side by side with the Colombian green tea and this black tea.

The leaves are moderately sized and slightly twisted with scents of sweet dark fruit, baked breads, and caramel with a base of Hay. I grabbed my gaiwan and brewed away. The taste is odd with some wet bamboo tones along with a more general wet wood note. I could note a slightly sweet aftertaste. The next taste brought the image of roast beef stew. This was an odd one for me. I couldn’t pick up the sweet berry notes peeps were talking about; i only got roast beef stew…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRGu6Y9gjKa/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

Dry leaf aroma: Malt with hints of cherry.
Dry leaf appearance:

Wet leaf aroma: Stone fruit and a crisp tartness.
Wet leaf appearance: https://www.instagram.com/p/BSwkUkuj_8F/

Preparation: Brewed western style in a ceramic infuser mug.

First steeping: 4 minutes at 212 degrees.
Freshly brewed, brisk tannin and malty notes are most prevalent, with a stone fruit aftertaste. A creamy mouthfeel is present at the end of the sip. As the cup cools a vibrant cherry note comes to the forefront and the creamy mouthfeel is more prominent in the aftertaste. I let this cup cool completely, after which the cherry essence truly came out and lingered pleasantly for quite a while after the sip.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve written. It’s been a while since I’ve tried a new tea! I’ve mostly been sipping down flavored stuff lately.

This one was perfect for this afternoon, since I started the morning off with a green. Wet leaf smells of caramel and chocolate. It reminds me a bit of some Chinese blacks, aroma-wise. There could be a little orange peel in there, something fruity. The brew smells of a weaker version of the same. However, a coworker said he got mushrooms off of the brew, so…who knows?

I brewed this one strong, like Valerian steel. I poured that entire 10g into my 155ml gaiwan and gave it a good 5 seconds. It’s strong! Malted, bitter orange caramel bomb. The brew is orangey red in its anger, and very Indian tasting.

As strong as I brewed it, I’m half expecting it to get out of the cup and run away. But for the expected bitterness, there’s very little astringency. A credit to the leaf?

I

Backlog. Got this from Liquid Proust’s regional group buy.

Tannic, unpleasant undertone. I wrote NO on the package when I had it the first time and I still agree with myself.

Evening cuppa.

Thanks to my unintended guest this evening (groan…) I didn’t get to do the session I’d originally intended for the evening – so instead I’m just drinking a Western cup of something from the regional buy.

This is so much nicer than the Bitaco Green. It obviously has an advantage to it, being that it’s a black tea which is my preferred type of the two, though. Still; anise is SUCH a good descriptor for this blend. When I cracked open the sample bag, I could immediately smell the anise just from the dry leaf. Very nice, very nice indeed.

Steeped, this is really smooth too! First flavour note I picked up on wasn’t actually the anise – though that was there too as sort of a body note/note in the finish. No, that first flavour note was a thick, malty quality! Almost sort of Assam like? But without quite the same caramel/honey sweetness. I mean, this is sweet in its own right – but I’d say that the sweetness comes from a combination of anise and cocoa notes.

It’s a nice sort of “curl up in bed with a mug of tea and lament about what a dick your roommate is” sort of tea. Thick, rich, and comforting enough to overrule an unkind gesture/thought…

From the Regional Group Buy.

Brewed in an infuser mug: 3 minutes, then 6.

The dry leaf aroma is a surprise: smells like apple cinnamon! The wet leaf aroma is more typical of a black tea: malty and with a little chocolate. The liquor has a thick and silky texture, and tastes like an 85% chocolate bar. Very delicious!

I need to drink this tea again. I don’t know if what I tasted was a result of sickness, but all I got was a malty black tea with a drying citrus edge. This was Western, so I need to do it Gong Fu next time. And next time be less congested. I will play around with it Gong Fu and Western with what I have left.

First reviewed tea from Liquid Proust’s 2016 Group Buy.

Well, I’m just going to go ahead and review this since I decided to throw the whole 10g sample into my 200ml Gaiwan without any hesitation; which 4:00 a.m. mornings and hyper children do to one’s mind without napping.

Anyway, I’m currently on steep 7 or 8. I’ve been distracted drinking this, and not writing down each steep; therefore, this review is mostly focused on this steep currently. Sweet cocoa, honey, and malt notes throughout. The maltiness of this tea lingers on tongue after the tea is consumed, but it’s nice. Very nice mouthfeel. It’s a rich and smooth brew, and quite tasty as an afternoon tea.

I might get more of this for my last semester of classes! It’d be a great tea for the two hour course, and nice to brew a lot, since I drink so much during a lecture. I’d even give this a go for the afternoon shift at the Y. So, with that said, I rate this highly.