Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: mottled brown, twisted
Ingredients: black tea
Steep time: 5 minutes
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: ceramic mug
Liquor: very dark
This tea was packaged in a silky pyramid tea bag and is part of the Artisan Comfort Gourmet Tea Collection. The first thing that impressed me was the amount of large, unbroken leaves in the sachet. Many companies use lower quality leaves in the their tea bags but this one looked exactly like the picture of the loose leaf version on Adagio’s site. The flavor of this tea was spicy and surprisingly sweet. The primary flavor was toasted chestnut but there were also hints of cocoa. The malty, peppery aftertaste added a bit of contrast at the end of each sip. There was some astringency but not so much so as to make it unpleasant. I’ve just recently run out but this has become my morning wake up tea at work. I think that I’m going to have to restock soon.