Many heartfelt thank yous go out to Dan for his generous gift of this fascinating tea! I have been waiting for enough money to be able to order it for months now only to find out last week that the company had closed up shop. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed but then Dan stepped up with his generous offer of a sample of this tea and I must say I was over the moon.
But of course Murphy had to have a good joke on my behalf this morning. As I was waiting for my tea to steep my son needed to use the bathroom. Being just under four he still needs someone in there to make sure he washes his hands. Just as he was turning on the faucet I caught a glimpse of the time on my watch and I let out an expletive. MY TEA! Rushing to the kitchen I hurriedly removed the leaves from the pot and looked at my watch again. 8 1/4 minutes! I had oversteeped it! This tea I had been waiting so long to try and would never be able to buy more of. Not one to waste tea and being much more hopefully optimistic than most (or just plain mule-stubborn!) I poured a cup, added sugar and waited for the liquid to cool a bit.
Oh my goodness! I was overjoyed to find that this is one of those rare teas that do not go bitter when mildly oversteeped. The toasty, nutty notes hit my tongue first. It wasn’t until about halfway through the cup that I picked up the vaunted cocoa flavor that had hit me full in the face when I opened the sample package. I certainly tasted it through the rest of the pot though!
Currently working on my second pot (9 minute infusion) and the flavor is just as lovely as the first steeping.
Again, many many thanks to Dan! I’m looking forward to trying the other teas he sent as well :)
I’m glad you liked it.