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Dry leaves smell floral with honey and hay. Wet leaves smell sweet and slightly stringent, more like a traditional black tea.

This is a sweet and gentle brew, with flavors of honey and sugar cookie followed by floral grass and hazelnut. The aftertaste has faint hints of peach and apricot sweetness.

It’s been years since I’ve tried a piece of this cake, I only found it again after moving recently and unearthing it while packing.

I was a bit afraid that time had cost it much of it’s flavor, but it has proven resilient.

The dry leaf still doesn’t give off much scent, the wet leaf suggests currant, raisin and sharp tannins.

The first steeping was fairly light, with notes of spicy, drying woodiness floating on top of juicy raspberry, currant, raisin, fig and tobacco. Slightly astringent, leaving my tongue a bit dry after each sip. The aftertaste lingers with drying tobacco and spice.

The second steeping was even stronger as the leaf opened up. There’s a sweet tobacco-menthol scent, and blackberry dominates the flavor. Darker fruits come to the fore, fig and raisin becoming more prominent. I would almost compare this tea to a nice red wine. Aftertaste still lingers pleasantly.

That was all for this session, but I do want to experiment with a little less water and see how much I can stretch out the flavor.

I’ve always really liked the combination of spicy tobacco, fig and red fruit in this tea. I haven’t found any other teas like it and I look forward to trying the 2018 version in the future.

Scent of dry leaves is herbaceous fennel and rye bread.
Wet leaves give off more fennel and cocoa.

Steeped twice western style, 12 oz of 200 degree Fahrenheit water.

Flavor is light, herb-y, with fennel and rye taking center stage while malt and chocolate linger at the edges. Sweet toasted bread-fennel-malt aftertaste. The end is slightly astringent and drying.

Second infusion is much like the first, though with less astringency. Gentle toasted rye bread, juicy malt and chocolate, maybe caramel. Some apple and apple skin dryness in the aftertaste.

While not your typical oolong, it still offers an interesting range of flavors. I definitely recommend it to people who love rye bread, the rye note stayed throughout. If you enjoy summer darjeelings or want something different, I’d recommend giving it a try.

Dry leaf smells like tangy tomato leaf.
Wet leaf has a blackberry jam aroma.

Brewed western style, this is a delicious assam that can enjoyed heavy or light on the tannins depending on steeping method. I prefer the lighter flavors of dark fruit and malt with just a hint of drying astringency to balance it out at the end.