Received this tea as a sample with my massive December order. Normally don’t drink a lot of black tea with the exception of bud teas like Jin Jun Mei or Dian Hong, so I was excited to give this a try. Happy to say that Taiwan Tea Crafts has impressed once again!
The dry leaves were surprisingly aromatic. Notes of candied apricots, plums, and fruit leather. The wet leaves, however, were much more interesting with a spicy/sweet combination reminiscent of cinnamon rolls beneath a familiar black tea earthiness.
I took this for five steepings at 6/3/6/8/10 seconds accordingly. I was starting to get a little jittery after five, since I was drinking alone, but could very easily have taken this tea for more. The liquor was light amber with a medium body and an immediate hit of stone fruit sweetness on the palate. Plums were the dominant flavor to me but dates, figs, and candied apricots all came through as well. There was a spiciness like cinnamon beneath the surface if you looked for it. Flavor was consistent through the first four infusions with maybe a slight shift toward the teas spicier notes in the fifth.
Overall, a pleasantly sweet black tea with no overwhelming or imbalanced flavors. I could definitely see this tea becoming one of the go-to black teas in my shelf.
