I have managed to miss two Carnivals! I totally spaced that yesterday was the deadline! Must do better this week.
I do have another new tea to report on though. Imperial Red, from In Pursuit of Tea, is a rich black tea from the Fuijan Province of China. The first thing I noticed on opening the packet was the smell of the leaves. Sweet. Cocoa-ish, and sweet. That augured well; I love to follow my nose.
Even the smell of the steeping tea was a bit cocoa-ish, so I was a little disappointed that it wasn't as strong in the taste. The strongest flavor is smoky. Not overwhelmingly smoky like a lapsang souchong, but definitely smoky. The cocoa remained only in the after-breath, that flavor that lingers after you've swallowed, as you breathe with your mouth closed and the aroma and tatste of the tea combine. I'm sure there's a tea-expert word for that phenomenon, but I don't know what it is. I just call it the after-breath, and it's one of the things I love best about tea. About some teas.
The other most noticeable thing about this tea is the color, which certainly lives up to its name - definitely red, as you can hopefully tell from the picture here, and quite different from the Délicat White Tea which has a lighter, yellowish color.
This is a good tea for sipping on a cold winter evening, which I just happen to have handy at the moment. It's brewing up to be quite a storm outside my window, but this tea sort of says, cuddle in, snuggle down, all is safe and warm here.









This is my favorite tea. Can not find it anywhere any more. Searched everywhere.
Posted by: tea Love | April 07, 2007 at 12:48 AM
Love the site!
I was reading your "what say, lady grey" and thought the reciepe was great , will definately try it out.
I would love to send you some of the best earl grey I think you'll ever taste and possibly some Assam or Darjeeling. Would love it if you could do a review on it and let me know what you think...
Not sure how to get i touch with you though.
Posted by: Louise | January 26, 2007 at 06:49 AM
yum! It looks great.
Posted by: aka Nik | January 22, 2007 at 01:15 AM