I was told this tea (?) won a third best black tea in the world. Well, whatever. It is pleasant enough. Lovely honey colour in the cup but much lighter than I had expected. The leaves were quite varied in length and the leaves quite variegated in their colours – dark, golden, silver, green. I thought it smelt for all the world like early season dry hay, very grassy.
On the tongue it was delicate, somewhat astringent, pleasantly so and it lingered nicely. There is a light natural sweetness so I did not feel a need to go overboard on the sugar. My nose is not much for catching floral notes unless the buds are stuffed up to the sinuses. Cannot say I really caught the classic “almondy” bouquet either. The aroma did not seem to burst out of cup like some other teas. Perhaps too subtle for this barbarous nose.
I don’t think this has the robustness that I like for a morning tea. It seems like a crepuscular tea to me, one for sipping on the porch on a early summer afternoon watching the sun go down. Serve with shortbread I think.
