This has an incredibly surprising fragrance right out of the bag. Believe it or not, it smells exactly like my husband’s shaving cream. It’s that cooling mentholated smell mixed with the sweet spiciness of cloves. I can see the cloves in the dry mix along with the black tea and what appears to be citrus peel. There could be ginger there too, maybe, and a bark of some kind.
After steeping, the aroma is different. It’s tobacco maybe. Most of what I smell now is the black tea. With some of these scented teas I’ve noticed that the scent of the essential oils is really strong in the dry tea but fades or vanishes altogether once the tea has been steeped. I often can’t detect any of the fragrance at all in the flavor of the liquid.
Unsweetened, this tea tasted extremely bitter to me, but after adding honey it is much more palatable. The tea itself tastes very complex. I may want to try the black tea on its own at some point, without the spice. I can still smell the menthol, but taste mostly a lightly spiced black tea. Cloves come to mind first and foremost. There is also a perfumy quality to it.
Second Steep
8 ounces water + 212 degrees + 50 seconds
The second cup still has that lingering sweetness in the background from the cloves.
Flavors: Bitter, Cloves, Menthol, Perfume, Spices, Spicy, Sweet, Tobacco
