Tea bag has little aroma, but upon brewing the aroma really emerges...rich, malty, and complex.

Brews a very dark cup, very full-bodied and thick. Although this is among the most full-bodied teas I've sampled in quite a long time, and the aroma is powerful, the flavor is surprisingly weak, especially for this style, but even among typical black teas.

Very smooth, but I expect this style of tea to be quite edgy and have considerable kick. So I'd say, not particularly true to the style.

Aroma is malty, slightly fruity, with a hint of a light rice-like quality, and the faintest suggestion of wintergreen. I don't know exactly what goes in this blend, but it strikes me as having some Keemun or a similar Chinese black tea in it...a sort of rich, warming quality with a hint of a deep fruitiness. This tastes a lot less like a typical Assam than most Irish Breakfast teas.

Finish is slightly astringent; I would like more bitterness. This tea is not bitter enough for how full-bodied it is.

A very good tea, like the others I've tried from Epi Tea. I still think it is overpriced, however, like the other offerings. The sachets are well over 50 cents each, and the amount of leaf in each one is adequate, but not generous. (Two Leaves Tea has more leaf in their black tea sachets, which are in a similar price range.) I'm a little disappointed, because I think Epi Tea has created something genuinely novel and interesting in their blends, but for their prices, I can't see buying or recommending them--they're too prohibitively expensive, especially relative to loose-leaf tea of similar quality.

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