Another of the samples I received in my package of black tea samples purchased from Vahdam.
The dried tea leaves were very green—much greener than I expected them to be. I was surprised also by the color of the liquor when it was fully brewed—it had a copper-brown color, not the light yellow shown in the picture here and on the Vahdam website.
I steeped 11 grams of dried leaves in 20 ounces of near-boiling water for 4 minutes.
The aroma coming off the finished liquor was muscatel—again, not something that I expected from a first flush. This aroma carried over into the flavor, along with a light flavor of wet rock/mineral. Again—both more like a second flush than a first flush. But, the primary flavor of the tea was very vegetal—cooked spinach, to be more exact. It seemed more like a green tea than a black Darjeeling. It was good, but unexpected.
I don’t think I’d go out of my way for this tea again. The variety of flavors make it hard to pin down, so I can’t say that I’d ever definitely be in the mood for it. I had it before bed since the caffeine content was low, but it would be a good tea for any time of day.
Date of picking: 09 April 2017
Flavors: Mineral, Muscatel, Spinach, Vegetal, Wet Rocks
