Sorry about the absence, Steepster! My laptop’s video card overheated, so I’ve been more or less without a way to update. (Because I sure as hell don’t want to write these posts on a touch screen with no mobile app!)
Anyway, this was on sale and I’m out of darjeeling, so I went for it. It smells pretty good for what I paid, which was two bucks. The scent doesn’t remind me too much of actual darjeeling. More like the standard fodder we make into sweet tea here in the south. As for steeping, I went with the preparation that was recommended on the envelope. Two minutes seems like a pretty short time, but by the end of that second minute, it looked nice and dark. This leads me to wonder if I could get a second steep from each bag. Hmmm.
The flavor is pretty solid, but not as strong as I expected. It’s satisfying, but a bit mild and dull. Next time, I’ll probably go with a longer steep time. It’s also very astringent. As for muscatel, you can kinda taste it in the finish, but otherwise, this is pretty generic black tea. Oh well, it’ll taste good over ice.
