A soft tea that was less interesting than most of the other black teas TEAORB has sent me, but still very pleasant to drink. Reminds me a lot of hot chocolate; something I'd drink later in the afternoon.

The dry leaf of this tea is very dark, thick, and wiry, and noticeably more broken than many of the other large-leaf artisan teas TEAORB provided as samples. Aroma is a little less strong than some of these other Assam black teas, and is mostly of dried fruit with a hint of autumn leaves and a toasty quality. It reminds me a little of some Ceylon OPA teas. There's a faint hint of smoke and the over-ripe, fermenting fruit notes that were in the Zaroni Assam.

I was a little wary trying this one: TEAORB describes it as "astringent" and some of their green teas have been overwhelmingly so.

The tea was soft, and astringent, but not too much so. I actually found the astringency pleasing. Aroma is mild and nondescript, a lot like the aroma of the dry leaf, mostly a mild aroma of dried fruit, with very faint notes of fermenting or overripe fruit, a few undertones of cocoa or sweet hot chocolate. That's about it. TEAORB describes this as smelling like "fresh cream"; it's strange, I would never think of using that descriptor, but once I think about it, I can see the connection.

I enjoyed drinking this but it wasn't very interesting. Resteeped well, and the second cup was very similar to the first. It doesn't seem very caffeinated and I found it had a relaxing effect; a good afternoon tea, something I could drink later than most black teas. The price seems decent, especially given how well it resteeps.

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