Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Grey’s Teas

Tea Description:

Our Afternoon blend – Well chosen China and Indian teas are blended to give a light, fragrant liquor with a little smokiness. Once you have tried it you will not drink an average tea during the afternoon ever again! Can be drunk with or without milk.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

When I first open a package of tea, I do what many of “us” (tea drinkers) do, I inhale deeply to take in the aroma.  And when I did just that with this Good Afternoon tea from Grey’s Teas, I noticed a hint of smokiness and a rugged earthiness, evoking thoughts of the smells I might encounter while hiking through the woods.

After brewing, the smell that wafted out of my tea pot and now out of my tea cup is smoky with hints of pepper.  I imagine this is what it might smell like if I were to burn a bunch of peppercorns and pine wood in the fireplace.

But the flavor is quite surprising, because it isn’t as smoky tasting as the aroma lead me to believe.  Yes, it is smoky, but, it melds quite nicely with the rest of the cup and doesn’t stand out as strongly as the aroma led me to believe it would.  I taste the faintest hint of pepper as well.  This is a very robust, bold kind of blend – much stronger than I expected for an afternoon blend.  Other afternoon blends I’ve tried tend to have a lighter taste, like a Darjeeling.  This tastes more like Lapsang Souchong (or possibly a strong Keemun) meets Yunnan and Assam for a power lunch.

All that said, I find this to be quite enjoyable.  Different than I expected, but still, I am enjoying it.  The smokiness is not overwhelming, it manages to marry well with the other flavors of the blend to become part of the complexity rather than oppressing it to the point where the complexity is lost – if that makes sense.

And as this tea cools, I find that it becomes even more enjoyable.  It’s not cold, it’s still hot, it’s just not straight from the tea pot hot.  It’s had a chance to cool just slightly and I notice the caramel-y undertones emerging, and an almost creamy note also come forth, which is really quite lovely when it melds with the smoky overtones.  It’s really wonderful.

This is a powerful afternoon blend – for those days that you need something stronger than the average pick-me-up!