I’m backlogging this tea right now. It’s been a while since I’ve had a cup of this. It is a little tricky to brew this using certain filters, as some of the CTC tea mixed in can fall through.
Leaf Quality:
Some of the leaves are CTC, and others are whole. There is a pretty even mix of both. Cornflowers are also present. It smells amazing. The leaves have a very refreshing Bergamot scent, along with a very aromatic floral quality already present in the base teas. The brewed leaves smelled malty, floral, and still of Bergamot.
Brewed Tea:
The brewed tea smelled rather different than the leaves. The cornflowers had more of a presence. The Bergamot wasn’t as prevalent, but the Assam qualities were. It tasted somewhat brisk at first. The color was a nice red-brown. It’s difficult to discern some of the characteristics of the base tea, as the Bergamot has been added.
The briskness of this tea surprised me. I don’t remember it being as strong. For this reason, I shortened by steeping time considerably from 4 minutes to less than three. Beforehand, the brew was a little bitter. Afterwards, it was much better. I could taste every element of the tea. I also noticed it was naturally sweet.
This was a very good tea to have this Saturday morning, despite the fringe steep times. I’ll be drinking this, when reading the rest of The Man in the Iron Mask.
