An earthy, complex tea whose true colors only seem to come out if brewed strongly.

The leaf of this is well-formed, but mostly dark (darker than suggested by the picture), and it has a strong and deep aroma, like a classic or typical Assam but with more complexity, more earthy and vegetal.

Produces a cup with a pungent aroma and a very bold flavor. Tastes sort of dirty and coarse. The aroma is earthy, vegetal, grainy, and with notes of dried fruit and strange herbaceous notes. Rich and robust, and with a strong warming quality. This is an excellent tea for cold winter days.

In spite of the whole, intact leaf, infuses relatively quickly. I preferred using a little more leaf and a 3 minute steep, followed by a very long second steep. It was hard to get the same strength and robustness out of the second cup. The second cup always tasted like a cup of more typical Assam to me.

But the first, especially if brewed more strongly, was really delightful. This tea is smooth enough that it can be brewed quite strong without being too much for me, but it has enough of the edgy quality to really satisfy me.

This tea is a little lower-priced than the Halmari Gold, which I recently sampled. I do like that tea better (especially in the second infusion), but I think they offer roughly equal value.

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