35

Another one I’ve not tried before. I became a big Ceylon fan after trying (and falling head over heels in love with) Adagio’s Ceylon Sonana. It’s still my black tea of choice. After finishing my first bag, though, I decided to try a few different Ceylons, just for the sake of experimentation. This was one of them, only I forgot about it until a couple of hours ago. So there you go. I was blinded to all other potential loves by Celyon Sonata for a while, but now the honeymoon period is over, I can see all of my other choices again.

I brewed this for about 4 minutes, because (on the whole) I like to drink my black tea with milk. Unfortunately, I can’t say much about the smell of the dry leaves. This is entirely my fault, because I had the bag stored next to my Yumchaa teas. Thus, all I can smell is Berry Berry Nice. Moving swiftly on (and having moved the Yumchaa to a safer place), the leaves of this tea are very fine — almost like conventional tea bag tea. I knew this was a BFOP, which I usually try to steer clear of, but I was still interested to try this one because of it’s single estate origin.

Brewed, the liquor is a nice deep golden brown. It smells mildly citrusy, with perhaps a hint of smokiness. The smokiness, I wasn’t expecting. It’s kind of pleasant all the same, though. To taste, this has quite a strong, slightly astringent, flavour. I expect that’s partly due to the broken leaves, so I might brew it for less time in future to compensate a bit. While I’m enjoying this enough to merit comenting on it, I don’t like it as much as my beloved Ceylon Sonata. I feel it lacks the lightness of flavour I was expecting, and I’m finding it a little too drying in the mouth. Not a winner, but it was worth a try if only to further scope out what I like and don’t.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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Bio

Hi :) I’m Sarah, and I live in Norfolk in the UK. My tea obsession began when a friend introduced me to Teapigs a good few years ago now. Since then, I’ve been insatiable. Steepster introduced me to a world of tea I never knew existed, and my goal is now to TRY ALL THE TEAS. Or most of them, anyway.

I still have a deep rooted (and probably life-long) preference for black tea. My all-time favourite is Assam, but Ceylon and Darjeeling also occupy a place in my heart. Flavoured black tea can be a beautiful thing, and I like a good chai latte in the winter.

I also drink a lot of rooibos/honeybush tea, particularly on an evening. Sometimes they’re the best dessert replacements, too. White teas are a staple in summer — their lightness and delicate nature is something I can always appreciate on a hot day.

I’m still warming up to green teas and oolongs. I don’t think they’ll ever be my favourites, with a few rare exceptions, but I don’t hate them anymore. My experience of these teas is still very much a work-in-progress. I’m also beginning to explore pu’erh, both ripened and raw. That’s my latest challenge!

I’m still searching for the perfect fruit tea. One without hibiscus. That actually tastes of fruit.

You’ve probably had enough of me now, so I’m going to shut up. Needless to say, though, I really love tea. Long may the journey continue!

My rating system:

91-100: The Holy Grail. Flawless teas I will never forget.

81-90: Outstanding. Pretty much perfection, and happiness in a cup.

71-80: Amazing. A tea to savour, and one I’ll keep coming back to.

61-70: Very good. The majority of things are as they should be. A pleasing cup.

51-60: Good. Not outstanding, but has merit.

41-50: Average. It’s not horrible, but I’ve definitely had better. There’s probably still something about it I’m not keen on.

31-40: Almost enjoyable, but something about it is not for me.

11-30: Pretty bad. It probably makes me screw my face up when I take a sip, but it’s not completely undrinkable.

0-10: Ugh. No. Never again. To me, undrinkable.

Location

Norfolk, UK

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