Interesting one. Heavy florals and flavor bordering on soapy.
Trying it out intuitive gong fu, the smell was super heady from the wet leaf. It tasted and smell like Orange Glow, and funny enough, there was some pleasant dark woodsiness in the aftertaste in a buttery texture. The second was still floral, bursting with orange blossom, honeysuckle, orange, tangerine, apricot, sweet potato, with some slight bitterness. I’m actually a little overwhelmed right now. Third, the smell is super breadsy like a fresh bagel, or sourdough like Leafhopper mentions. I’m glad I shortened the steep time. The Apricot +orange combined really nicely.
Next few steeps will be shortened, and I will return in a little bit….
I’ve got a few more notes I need to make up…
So after I took some Jasmine on my way to getting the Ghosts of Toshima, I had a little bit of a caffeine Euphoria. Getting back to this tea, 15 seconds, and orange syrup coating sweetness, yams, and some florals giving me a little bit of a headache. The leaves still smell good, but I might have to switch to my more milder ones tonight as I power through some notes and historical gaming.
I feel bad that I’m stopping on this one, but I think I got what I needed to from it. This is my kind of black tea, though a little bit strong in caffeine and florals, even for me. This is the kind of tea I would drink if I was taking things slower, but definitely a tea to drink in the morning on the weekend when I’m not quite awake, and have enough time to be careful and to take in the aroma. I think it would be good for newbies who like citrus as they get into straight teas, and are getting into teas like Earl Grey or Jasmine as a novice reference. However, it could be overpowering, and it looks like I was not the only one.
I’m personally rating it 80, though I think it’s between the 75-85 range in terms of quality to price. The big reason I’m rating it lower is the headache from the HEAVY citrus florals.
Flavors: Apricot, Bread, Dark Wood, Floral, Fruit Tree Flowers, Honeysuckle, Orange, Orange Blossom, Orange Zest, Pastries, Sweet, Sweet Potatoes
Ghosts of Toshima!