I got this one as part of my verdant sampler set. I was really excited to try it because it had such fancy reviews everywhere.
I didn’t have brewing instructions with me, so I went with a 3min steep with boiled water. It smelled very smoky/woodsy. After I read that it was supposed to have a chocolate aroma too, I recognized that as part of the aroma that I was having trouble placing at first. The flavor was woodsy too, almost seemed sort of fruity, but not too much. I am not so good at recognizing flavors (yet). As it cooled to more comfortable drinking temperatures, I could definitely pick up more on the chocolate. I am still uncertain I am really noticing all the other flavor notes just yet, but I will get there.
I like this one quite a bit. It is a likely (but not definite) repurchase. I don’ think it is quite as exciting as everyone has made it out to be, but I haven’t tried enough variety of black tea to necessarily recognize what is particularly special with this one.
