I am seriously drowning in tea now. My orders from 52teas and The Simple Leaf both came in today, and now I’m starting to think that investing in a better tea storage solution is completely critical. This wouldn’t be such a disaster if I were capable of ordering just one or two samples, but I’m really not. My counter is a minefield of new tea.
Soooo, anyway!
What can I say about this tea that other people haven’t already said?
Opening the bag, you’re hit with the scent of cocoa powder — the light, fluffy, dusty kind. To me, the aroma was a lot like chocolate milk. Everyone to remark on the leaves themselves is utterly in earnest — they are incredible. Thick, woody, substantial, smooth. They are tea leaves that you could kill a man with. They have heft.
They are also very difficult to estimate by eye, reinforcing for me that a scale is something I’m overdue to invest in.
Steeped, while still very hot the aroma slips occasionally toward something distinctly honey. Honey and cocoa are definitely there…and so is a woody depth that reminds me not just a little bit of Golden Moon’s Imperial Formosa Oolong. You never lose sight of the fact that this is tea, either; what I think of as the quintessential tea flavor is there, but darker, shadowed.
The other note I can identify is one I’ve gone back and forth about adding here for reasons that will become obvious, but it’s just so prevalent that I can’t really see any way to get around it:
Cannabis.
Not fresh. More like…hash. Why yes, I did spend a few years in my youth doing things you’re not technically allowed by our country to do!
Seriously, though, it’s there. In small quantities, and more like the memory of something than the fact of it, but recurrent enough that this note would be incomplete without its mention.
For all that the list of flavors is dark…the tea itself is surprisingly not so, with a very low and subtle sweetness on the tail end that uplifts the oolong-like fullness in the mouth.
A delicious tea, and completey worthy of whatever ranting and raving people have been doing.
PS: Good for a second steep.
I’m so glad you liked it! It was a revelation to me, but clearly not such a revelation as it vouchsafed to you. I love your connection of it to dawn. I hadn’t seen that and had wondered grumpily what I was missing in my understanding of the name. But now that you describe it, yes, that is precisely the metaphorical taste of the tea. I’d kept looking at the leaves saying, “These look nothing like dawn. They’re dark brown.” So thank you for the enlightenment.
What a nice review. This sounds good I would put this on my to buy list.
@Carolyn I usually suck when it comes to symbolism-type stuff, but this made sense to me in a funny way. I’m glad my idiot-savant moment benefited you! Thanks again!
@silvermage2000 It’s very good.
Guh. And now we have yet another company I need to order from. This sounds…. awesome.
What a beautiful review, takgoti. I love shiver-inducing moments that happen like that. When everything in the universe just seems to be perfect. I love nights like the one you’ve described. When you just feel… ALIVE. I’m happy that this tea helped you feel that way! Yay to Carolyn for finding it!
Beautiful. I tend to stay away from dessert teas but this sounds lovely. Plus, dawn is my favorite time of day.
@Auggy Haha! This one’s worth it, in my opinion. I’m poking around to see what else I might try.
@teaplz Aw, thank you! Yes, that’s exactly how it feels. I’m sure that part of it is my over-romanticized side kicking in, but I don’t mind a little extra hazy halo around my fonder memories.
@Shanti It isn’t overwhelming sweet, which is very nice. It’s well-balanced. Mellow. I wouldn’t be trepidatious about offering it to any of my friends or family, which is saying a lot.
@takgoti You might enjoy their Honeybee Oolong or their Maharani. When I tasted the Honeybee I thought of you immediately. I can send you a bit if you’d like.
@Carolyn I hope that you know that I am not saying these things in the hopes that you or someone else will send free tea in my direction. If it’s really okay, then of course I would love to try some! And also, as soon as your husband stops glaring at your tea collection you let me know what I can send to repay the favor.
@takgoti No I didn’t think you were fishing for tea. I actually thought of sending you the Honeybee a few weeks ago but then decided that you might feel stalked if you kept receiving packets of tea in the mail from me that you hadn’t requested.
My wonderful husband has decided that the solution to the tea invasion is to get a step tansu to store the tea in and to place the teapots along the steps of the tansu. http://www.chinafurnitureonline.com/admin/images/enlarged_images/BJTS02RS_e.jpg
This is planned in our budget for March. So I just have to get to March and be very, very good and then all will be well in his world.
@Carolyn Shut the front door! That is too cool!
Teas that bring back memories are the best. Yes, I liked the post, but where’s the love it button?
yep, just added this to my shopping list. this tea sounds wonderful!
@ Carolyn – that step tansu is too cute! what a great idea!
Woot, just placed an order and included Dawn, thanks to your review. Also, THERE IS A TEA WITH MY NAME. Shanti tea. Shantea? I am excited.
@Ricky Aw, thanks.
@LENA It’s very nice indeed! I like it a lot. So smooth.
@Shanti Oh, nice! If you don’t like it, blame Carolyn. [Absolutely kidding.] And what? Trotting over to look. Oh, wow! AND ranked 7th! That’s pretty impressive. It sounds good, too, looking forward to the review!
Lovely.
Aw, thanks. It is one of very few fond memories I have of the year I spent at UVA. Needless to say, I hang onto it pretty tightly.