I needed this tea right now. I came home damp and exhausted and this tea does have a certain brightness and cheer to it that it is quickly returning me to a state of alertness and removing my headache.
I found this at a Portuguese grocer ( where I also got new seals for my cafetiera, yay!). It seems that most of the local stores have this or the broken leaf variety. This particular batch was packaged at the end of November. This is my first taste of an Azores grown tea.
The leaf is long and wiry and loosely rolled, the dry leaf smells very fruity, and fresh. The scent reminds me a little of Sultanas. I probably used the normal 3g of tea but because it is so wiry I used closer to two TSP in the @11oz vessel I brewed it in. That would work put to about 1.5 TSP cup.
The brewed tea is a very clear copper colour, that smells slightly like sweet buns and fresh plums (almost heading to peaches) with cane sugar. There is a bright citrusy slightly floral note as well in the scent that did not translate into the flavour.
This tea has a good dose of caffeine ( this is very necessary right now!), and is brisk and light, while at the same time being very smooth and easy to drink. There is a slight astringency which adds a certain robustness and body to the tea and keeps it from being too light.
This is a fruity, sweet black tea with bready notes. The notes blend well in the flavour there is a bite of fresh ripe plum mixed with bready pastry notes, that finish with a very sweet honey note.
This is a really great every day tea when your looking for something bright and light. I’m so glad I picked this up today.
