Organic Black Andean from Drink T

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Drink T

Product Description:

In the high slopes of the Andes Mountains where they meet the Amazon Basin is a region of sub Andean valleys called Yungas. The unique soil of the high altitude rain forest covered mountains, where the cool air from the snow capped mountains combine with the warm moist air from the Amazon, is ideal to cultivate superior quality tea. This black tea has an original flavor unlike traditional black teas from India and Sri Lanka. Large jet-black organic tea leaves yield an exquisite bright amber cup with a garden fresh aroma that is full-bodied and has a tantalizing apricot peach after taste

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Earlier this week, I had realized that I hadn’t yet reviewed this tea!  How could that be?  I have enjoyed this tea for quite a while now.  But, I shall remedy that.

When I first opened the pouch of this tea, I noticed the beautiful dark chocolate colored leaves – long, twisted and wiry – and their distinct fruit-like aroma that evoked images of summer when fresh peaches and apricots are ripe and bursting with flavor.  After brewing, the dark coppery cup offers mere hints of the delicious fragrance of the dry leaf.

The flavor is very rich and pleasant.  It is a full-bodied, robust flavor that has some gusto to it.  I am noticing a deep, baked-bread kind of taste and notes of malt, as well as an enjoyable chocolate-y flavor in the background.  Remarkably smooth, and agreeably sweet with lovely fruit undertones.

Flavor wise, I would classify this tea from the Amazonian rainforest as somewhere between an Assam and a Ceylon, but also with notes that are reminiscent of a rich Fujian black tea.  There is a fair amount of astringency to this tea, a slightly dry astringency that readies the palate to enjoy the aftertaste that has hints of sweet apricot.

This is an excellent tea that I’d recommend to anyone.  It has that “agreeable” kind of flavor that even someone new to tea can appreciate, and possesses a complexity that will please tea enthusiasts as well as the occasional tea drinker.