Bourbon Black Tea from Elmwood Inn Fine Teas

When I arrived home from a Kentucky Derby party Saturday night, I had the most wonderful and timely gift awaiting from my tea friend Linda in Kentucky, and it was …

This tin of Bourbon Black Tea from Elmwood Inn Fine Teas in Danville, Kentucky! I had been wanting to try this tea, even though I've never had a sip of bourbon that I'm aware of (unless chocolate-covered bourbon balls count). You'd think a boring, middle-aged teetotaler (or teatotaler?) wouldn't be interested in bourbon-flavored tea, but I was, and since the bourbon in mint juleps is synonymous with the Kentucky Derby, this tea is the perfect tea lover's tea to enjoy on race day!

I'm happy to report that I really, really like this tea and have been drinking it all week. (There's no alcohol, so don't worry that I'm turning into a lush!) It has a smoky edge and an almost sweet quality that I greatly enjoy, almost as if somebody finally got the recipe exactly right for that Lapsang Souchong tea I find so offensive. So I'm enjoying my new bourbon tea very much, and now I don't have to wait a whole 'nuther year to get in Kentucky Derby mode again!

Note: If I'm about to review a new tea, I try not to read about a tea's ingredients until I've tried it so that I won't be influenced by the description. Here's what I just learned about this tea from the Elmwood Inn Fine Teas website: "The immediate notes are caramel and vanilla. Lingering in the background is a subtle hint of char delivered by a tiny bit of Lapsang Souchong." So apparently I do like "a tiny bit" of Lapsang Souchong!