Well, it’s a good thing I got the tiny teapots from Samovar, because I broke my regular one last night. Rather than going back to mugs and infusers already, I decided to make a little cup of this.
From JacquelineM, this brews up a lovely dark orange. It smells like a straight up Ceylon, at least when hot. In the flavor, I’m actually getting more smoke than vanilla. Adding milk brings out the creamy flavor a little, but this still isn’t quite what I was expecting from the description and the scent.
2nd steep might be better than the first, for me: still nothing I’d describe as vanilla, but rounder, more harmonious flavors. It almost tastes like a blend, with some Assam and/or Keemun in there. I am getting the chocolately notes everyone else mentioned now. Very tasty.
Oh no on the broken pot! The casualties of brewing can be very sad.
Very sad. Even worse, it was a gift! But luckily, the Bee House pots are neither rare nor terribly expensive, so I’ll probably get another one at some point.