Although I’ve never traveled to southern Africa, I have a fascination & infatuation with the place after reading the ‘The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ series by Alexander McCall Smith. If you know, you know, and you would be right in guessing that I drink A LOT of red bush tea. So, naturally it was impossible for me to skip over this tin.
I would describe this as a ‘light’ black; if I had tested blind I would have guessed it to be an oolong. It doesn’t taste fully oxidated to me and it has those soft, cooked fruit flavors, low tannin and heavier body that I associate with oolong. I personally don’t notice much smoke, and I am sensitive to smoke to the point of avoiding any food cooked on a grill. To me this is a plus as I cannot enjoy smoky tea often, but this one is easily a once-a-week sipper.
I love the flowering-fruit tree aromas and I also get some intriguing chicory coffee notes on the finish. I like this enough to repurchase if Mariage Freres keeps it in stock.
160 °F / 71 °C
2 min, 30 sec
