A Dark Matter tea! Pulled this one out of my sample bag and decided to give it a go today. This is a really nice hong. The dry leaf smelled of chocolate and malt. After being bathed, they got a bit of a grapey note as well.
The first few steeps had notes of honey and malt. I think I ramped up my steep times a bit too quickly, as the tea soon got a little bit rough and drying. After that passed (about 4 steeps in) the tea became very smooth and drinkable, with the same honey and malt tastes, though the malt became more prominent, along with a slightly fruity aftertaste, more blackberry than grape. Maybe like really dark grape jam but I’d say blackberry over grape. Around the 7th steep, the fruitiness started to drop off, and I started tasting mostly malt with a slight salted-chocolate note to it as well. In the final steeps, I got a light woody note which I often seem to get from steeped out black tea. This was a tasty black tea for sure – not really heavy on the chocolate or the fruity, rather it is nicely balanced.
Flavors: Blackberry, Chocolate, Fruity, Honey, Malt
