It’s very interesting how similar this tea is to my memory of top quality Assam tea (from India). It has a classic black tea flavor profile, like an English breakfast, but with more weight and intensity, and without the sourness or grip of tannins. There are tannins, but I think the oils of the tea prevent them from really taking hold on the tongue. The tea feels substantial.

The first notes I got aromatically were of cow dung — old cow dung, like you’d smell naturally in a field that had cows. It’s grassy in a dead grass way, maybe more like in a hay way, like bales of hay that have dried. Perhaps some fermentation has occured in the grass, from rain or something. It seems like it would be a nice day, with a bright blue sky. There seems like there would be a barb wire fence, though not in good condition, maybe a post has fallen and some of the barbed wire has some slack because of it. Those are all nuances of course. Predominantly it just smells like a classic black tea.

Nothing sexy comes to mind with this. Not yet anyway 😉

I haven’t really dialed in how to make this yet, my first brew was very successful, I don’t think the ideal brew would be far away from my current parameters.

5.5g : 330mL, steeped 2 minutes, from rolling boil