So, it’s been a long while and I’m a bit out of practice of writing these. I signed up for steepster select, and this being the first one listed when I opened my package gets to serve double duty containing my impressions of the package. I got a tiny little box in the mail, packaged inside was this really plain but cute steepster labeled bag packaged in cardboard shavings. Inside the bag were 10 little brown packages of tea and a postcard telling me a little about each of the teas. Also included were a number of simple tea-bags. Very nice in my opinion, first impressions and all!
Red Jade from Echo-Cha is from Nantou, Taiwan and the blurb about it reads
A hybrid of the assame cultivae and a wild growing cultivae, this black tea is the product of the Tea Research Extension Station and is naturally immune to local pest, requiring little to no pesticide.
Well, interesting facts, but, makes me think I’m drinking some mutant off-shoot of tea and tells me little about the expected flavor.
On the brown package of tea it includes the name of the Tea, what store it came from, the type of tea, region it’s from, a small tasing note blurb, and brewing temperature and time which I followed. The tasting notes on the brown package read
A complex combination of cinnamon, clove, and mint.
Interesting to say the least! After brewing and having a sip, I’m not so certain I detect those flavors myself, but, my taste buds have had a long vacation from tea. The aroma of the tea is absolutely delicious though; I had to fight with myself to actually drink the tea instead of just sniffing it all evening like some possessed tea-fiend. After a few sips, I did suspect I could taste hints of cinnamon and mint flavors mentioned on the package, but a little unsure of if that’s simply the power of suggestion or not. A lot of the taste is very similar to one of the english breakfast teas I’ve tried, I suspect because they’re both Assam teas.
I like it a lot and it’s definitely gonna go missing from my tea stash quickly!
