A complex, versatile black tea of excellent quality that can be brewed to suit different tastes.

The dry leaf of this tea is very tightly rolled, almost like a gunpowder tea. In spite of this though, it's intensely aromatic, with a very pleasing aroma, fresh, fruity, light smelling, with tones of wintergreen and a hint of wood smoke.

Upon brewing, the leaves unfurl and end up taking up a lot of space--I recommend using a little less leaf by volume than is typical for black teas, because it's easy to use more than expected. The aroma becomes more malty upon brewing.

The flavor is smooth but intense. Bitter chocolate and malty qualities emerge that were not at all evident from smelling the dry leaf. Initially sweet, but with a dry finish, leaving a pleasant astringency on the palate. I detect nuances of wintergreen (my favorite), ripe fruit, and smoke. A very complex tea.

I find brewing more strongly (5 minutes and more leaf) brings out the bitter chocolate, malty, and smoky tones, whereas a milder cup (3 minutes or less, and less leaf) highlights the wintergreen tones more and produces a mild cup...I think I actually prefer the milder cup for this reason. I find this tea interesting because when brewed mildly it tastes more like a high-grown tea, but when brewed strongly it taste more like an Assam or low-grown Ceylon.

The leaf is slow to infuse and is full of flavor...even with a long first steeping, I'm able to get a second cup that's just as good as the first. Brewing as I prefer, 3 minutes, I was able to brew two flavorful cups and a third that was pleasant if slightly weak. The leaf behaves a little bit like the tightly-rolled oolongs of a high grade, slowly releasing its flavor.

Excellent, and affordable enough to make it an everyday tea. This is a real winner in my book, and is one of the best black teas I have tried in a long time.

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