Y’all – I love smoked tea so, so much and this is just a beautiful one!
I find this a very “dry” smoke with some really interesting savory kind of undertones and elements to it – much of the body of the sip was very brothy to me (in a good way) and the overall smoke level is quite robust and assertive. The cinnamon certainly adds an interesting element to it – the notes seem woodier and more nuanced with this back of the throat warming sensation that not all smoked teas have. It’s like sipping on campfire smoke and then having the coziness you feel from being near the heat of the campfire rise up from within yourself after each swallow.
I wish the notes of the pineapple and cherry in the blend were stronger – because there is no flavouring used here and only these stunning large cut dried out fruits there isn’t the same level of flavour that a lot of people are used to in blended teas. Not a bad thing by any means but it’s just super different stylistically. For me, I got an undertone of sweetness beneath those brothy smoke and spice notes that reminded me of the syrup quality of ripe pineapple without so much having the distinct taste of it.
This is a tea I want to steep up again and again and just sit with and sip – mulling over the intricacies of the blend. A very good “thinking” tea.
Beautiful note! I loved reading it. This tea sounds really special.