Yet another Colombian tea from the Bitaco estate. Thank you Simpson & Vail for the samples! It's been exciting how many of these I've been able to try lately, and I love every one. They are only subtly different, but I am still able to appreciate the differences. This one, as the name suggests, was the sweetest one I've tried yet.

The dry leaf is very fragrant, with spicy and vegetable notes and hints of olive, followed by a strong malty character that suggests sweetness. A little more perfumey than most of the teas I've tried from this tea garden, almost like potpourri with the combination of spice, fruity, and herbaceous notes. As always I am eager to brew this!

The brewed cup is very tasty. Flavor is surprisingly mild, sweet and with only a light bitterness. Brewed plain, it tastes like honey has been added. The aroma has notes of cocoa (like sweet hot chocolate) and wintergreen, and there are some spicy and herbaceous notes just like the smell of the dry leaf suggested. Very complex and very pleasing.

I found I preferred a five minute initial steep, using a bit more leaf than I normally would. The interesting aromatic notes come out better when brewed more strongly.

The resteep was good but slightly weaker, especially if I made the first steep as long as I'd like. I was tempted to give this tea a perfect score, but the weaker resteep docked it two points for me.

As with all these Bitaco teas, I really liked how I felt after drinking this.

I can't emphasize this enough, you can't go wrong with these Colombian black teas; they're all excellent. And the price is really good.

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