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Hello, Steepsterites!!!! Sorry that I dropped off the face of the planet. I’ve been super busy with wedding planning, trips to visit family, handling what feels like a million problems at work, and still trying to find time to work out and remain sane.

I don’t think I can keep up with the rate at which I tea blogged and read/liked everyone’s posts. I haven’t even drunk a cup of tea in over a month! Well, unless you count the disgusting cup of overly sweetened iced green tea I had yesterday from Panera. Yuck. Tasted like lipstick. Anyway, I’m not disappearing forever. I’ll pop on every now and then, just not quite as often as I used to (i.e. not daily). Nonetheless, I apologize if anyone has been left feeling neglected. I promise it’s not on purpose and I still love all of you, even if I can’t like all your posts!

Okay, well here’s a long anticipated tea from the generous Kittenna!!! Golden Fleece, you are my heart’s desire. I can’t believe how long you’ve sat in my cupboard waiting to be steeped. Well, your wait is over!

The dry leaf aroma is a jumbled compilation of the other teas that Kittenna sent. But the brewed tea aroma? Malt and bread and cocoa. Ohhhh yeah! This is the tea of my dreams! Well actually, my dreams have been quite strange of late. Most are set in an apocalyptic world with someone trying to kill me. I often wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. So much for restful sleep.

Anyway, time to actually taste it. Ohhhh, this tea is incredible! Exactly what I could ever have hoped for and more. It’s the perfect Yunnan black. 100% complete yum factor. Who knew a tea could be so flavorful after a quick one minute steeping? I’m going for quality over quantity so the second steep was for two minutes. Mmm, this tea is sweet and silky and surprisingly frothy when you pour hot water over the leaves.

There’s also a hint of darkness. Not full bitterness and definitely not astringency. But there’s a subtle darkness to the cup, perhaps leaning towards bitterness but not completely there. This is interesting and quite unexpected. The first cup was very smooth. Maybe I should have used less than boiling water? Or maybe I should have gone for the gong fu method of brewing instead of Western style.

I’ll try 195 degrees for 2.5 minutes for the third steep. Yay! All traces of darkness are gone! Now I’m left with a cup of the Yunnan black I love. However, for that earlier odd hint of darkness, I feel compelled to lower the rating a tad. I was expecting 100, so maybe my high expectations tarnished the evaluation. But it is still amazing, and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to try it. Without Kittenna I wouldn’t have had the chance. Thank you sooo much!!