82

I’d never tried any tea from the Azores before, so this was a really interesting tea to try. The leaves were kinda chunky and blocky-looking; kind of a hallmark of a broken leaf tea, I think. The initial infusion started out red and deepened to a rich chocolate; the tea smelled bright and barky, with definite hints of maltiness. The cup was very smooth and subtle; this is a solid black tea with nice bright notes. Quite suitable for breakfast, I think!

I think next time I might brew this at a higher temperature next time; 200 seemed a bit low. The packet recommended 203, but my kettle doesn’t have that as a setting. I also think that this tea could have been a bit less subtle at times; there was no one flavor that sang out at me, and the first few sips were a little underwhelming when compared to the strength of the middle of the cup!

Flavors: Bark, Malt, Tannic

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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I’m a 24-year old grad student who’s been drinking tea since I was itty bitty and having tea parties with my grandmother. Got serious about it my freshman year of college and have been exploring the wide world of loose-leaf ever since!

I like pretty much anything, really, except for blends that are super heavy on the sugar. The only thing I’ve ever truly hated was Teavana’s JavaVana Maté. As Scary Terry so famously said, these halves don’t belong together.

My ratings are pretty arbitrary. Anything above an 80 I like enough that I’d probably buy it again at some point after I run out; anything above 90 basically gets an A. Anything under 70 and I probably didn’t like it too much.

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Chicago, IL

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