Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & White
Where to Buy: Art of Tea
Product Description:
Pour the night sky into your cup. Organic Assam black tea combined with natural soothing vanilla bits along with star-shaped white tea.
Taster’s Review:
This is a tea that I’ve wanted to try for a long time. What can I say, I’m a huge fan of Vincent Van Gogh, and Starry Night is my favorite painting of all time. It has such beautiful emotion – the brushstrokes speak to me in a way no other painting ever has.
But you didn’t come here to read about my love of art (unless we’re talking about my love of Art of Tea!)
This is a fascinating tea. The black tea is a stout Assam, which can pose some interesting complications when paired with a white tea. I chose to steep it at a middle-ground temperature (180° F) and steep it for just 3 minutes.
The result is delightful! Although I don’t get much noticeable flavor from the white tea (that’s not to say I cannot taste it because it’s there, but it is something that I really need to focus on intently to detect it), the Assam tea is so deliciously flavorful that it would seem rather ungrateful to be complaining about the white tea not being prominent.
There is a rich malty tone to the Assam – and it has been flavored with vanilla and the vanilla lends a creaminess to the malty note that is rather irresistible! This is an excellent, full-flavored Assam that has a toothsome quality to it and a hint of baked flavor in the background.
A smooth, bold tea that despite its name, is not a tea that I’d recommend sipping in the evening – unless drinking a strong, caffeinated tea in the later hours of the day would not keep you stirring at bedtime! It would take the additions of milk and honey very well, although it is quite nice without them too. I personally like my Assam tea with a drizzle of honey or agave nectar because it can be a little harsh without sweetener, but, with the vanilla here, it doesn’t really need it! It definitely has an EDGE to it, but, it isn’t hard to handle.
I love this tea!
