Update: The first time I steeped this, I didn’t use enough leaves which prevented much of the flavor and aroma from coming out. After giving more time and more leaves I found it to be a very good tea, and had to reassess my initial post. I could smell an apple vinegar aroma off the tea, which was very pleasant, and yet this scent didn’t translate into a sour taste or anything unpleasant with the tea taste. The taste was very pleasant, upon steeping for nearly an hour it became very fruity in both aroma and taste. Very good tea! I’d disregard my initial posting below, and leave it as a cautionary note about using the right amount of leaves when steeping.
I really wanted to like this tea more, but while it is a good tea, I didn’t find it particularly exceptional in any area. The chocolatey aroma of the dry leaves left me initially impressed, but after steeping it, I didn’t find it open or expose anything amazing in the flavor department. The taste was pleasant with smooth well balanced flavor notes, the chocolate aroma accented with a slight nutty and earthy flavor was good. Despite this, compared to some other cliff tea I’ve had – it wasn’t as strong for flavor as I would like, so I may try steeping it with more tea next time and that may help. Again, certainly not a bad tea, in fact a very good tea, but just not one of my top ranking teas either.
