Brewed in a glass test tube steeper. Steeping times: 20 seconds, 30, 45, 60, 120.
Complex aroma, changing as the leaves air. Dry leaf: malt, bread, sweet potatoes. After staying for thirty seconds in the heated steeper, still dry, pure fudge. Wet leaf: chocolate fudge cake, returning to sweet potatoes.
Amber-colored liquor, on the lighter side for a Chinese black tea. Clear, with the exception of fuzzies. Full-bodied.
The first infusion yields notes of sweet potatoes and malt. Quite light in flavor and thinly textured, though – the leaves would have needed to steep more. The ball gets rolling in the second infusion – thicker texture, with chocolately flavors – but the third infusion is the high point of the session. There was even more chocolate, followed by smoky sugar, then grains, and, lastly, sweet potatoes cooked on fire. All at once, though easy to pick out separately.
After a two-hour break, the fourth infusion tasted of sweet potatoes. The final was very smokey (not any kind in particular).
