A somewhat novel tea that I found paired well with bland, fatty foods, but was a little boring otherwise.

The dry leaf of this tea smelled very interesting and subtly different from other black teas. It reminded me a bit of an Assam, but had herbaceous notes and a different sort of spicy quality.

Brews up a cup with a mild, spicy aroma and a full body but relatively mild flavor. Quite peppery on the palate, not just in the finish but throughout the whole sip. Aroma is spicy and slightly malty, not that complex.

The overall drinking experience though wasn't as interesting as the aroma of the dry leaf suggests. I also only got one good steep...you can resteep it, but it was tending towards boring on the first cup and the second cup was even more so.

I ate this tea with several meals, and I found that it tasted much better with greasy or oily foods, especially foods that are both fatty and on the bland side. The peppery sensation on the palate really cuts through heavy foods. Strong-flavored foods seem to bowl over the aroma and make this tea seem flat and uninteresting, but I find that the aroma seems to come alive more when contrasted with mild flavors.

Try it with fried chicken, french fries, or maybe fried rice or pan-fried noodles; I can see it pairing well with all of the above. Upton recommends trying it iced, and I can see this working well, but I didn't try it.

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