This tea had some strange and different subtleties, but was mellow overall. Thank you to TEAORB for the sample!

The leaf is beautiful, very delicate, wiry black leaves with a hint of golden tips. It is fragile and brittle, and breaks easily. TEAORB describes its aroma as that of "pine". It doesn't quite smell like pine needles or pine resin, but something about the leaf does hint at or evoke memories of pine forests. It is sort of fresh smelling, different. There's a hint of that camphor quality I associate with some young sheng Pu-erh. Like a lot of these artisanal Assams, it's sort of dirty smelling, earthy.

The brewed cup is similarly novel, aromatically, but drinking it is a little more familiar, like a traditional Assam with a novel spin. I get a lot of the "overripe fruit" aroma from the brewed cup, and it's malty and pleasantly edgy. There are notes of cocoa.

I found this tea tasted better when hot. When it cooled somewhat, it became a bit boring and muddled. It resteeped well and did not seem at all picky about steep time. It tasted similar whether the first steep was 3 or 5 minutes, and varying the leaf quantity a bit. I was always able to get a second cup with good strength. The second cup had noticeable more astringency, perhaps because I steeped it longer, but was still enjoyable.

The overall experience of drinking this was mellow. It doesn't seem very caffeinated, even when I used a lot of leaf.

I enjoyed this but it wasn't among my favorite black teas from TEAORB. The price, however, is very reasonable for a tea of this quality. Is is one of the more inexpensive teas in TEAORB's catalogue.

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