This tin seems to be the new north american standard of being basically just fannings this has made the tea more bitter than it used to be and has diminished the sweetness.
After a short steep of under 2 minutes the tea is the colour of mahogany. It tastes of a hint of smoke, bitter artichoke, a hint of bisuit with a small hint of sweetness and malt underneath the bitter tones. As it cools the biscuit and sweeter tones come more to theforefront and the bitterness receeds and a fruity citrus note appears. There is a bit of astringency but it is not overwhelming just enough to make the tea feel lively in the mouth. The tea does pack a good caffeine punch.
I decided to try again and reduced the steeping time to 1 minute and reduced the amount of leaf. The tea smells of biscuit, lemon and stonefruit. The bitter taste is now reduced to a pleasant level and the tea is smoother. The top note is a slight bittersweet flavour and slightly floral(rose) with fruity notes of lemon. This is underlayed by stonefruit, malt and biscuit. this was much better.
The tea is still decent but the local stores have been increasing the cost of the tin by $2-3 lately and I can get much better full leaf teas and bops for just a little more money than the cost of this tin and I will probably purchase them over this in the future.
