6th day of Vahdam black tea sampler

6th day and it's a nice one.

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When I first opened the packet and took a sniff of the dry leaves, my initial thought was... well, it was pretty mild. Definitely smells like black tea, but it wasn't particularly strong or distinctive at that point. No big aromatic promises upfront.

This is where things took a turn for the interesting. Once the tea was brewed, a really lovely sweetness started to emerge, both from the wet leaves in the strainer and the aroma rising from the cup. Quite a difference from the dry leaf smell!

Taste-wise, the very first thing I noticed was a distinct maltiness, but almost immediately after, a clear sweetness came through and really formed the main body of the tea's flavour. It's not just sweet, mind you. There's still that characteristic black tea bitterness playing alongside it, and the maltiness definitely hangs around in the aftertaste, lingering for a little while. But the main impression while drinking? Surprisingly sweet and smooth.

The leaves themselves were indeed quite strong and thick, and they handled brewing well. I easily got three decent infusions out of them, so good value there in terms of leaf endurance.

I'm tempted to give it a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. It didn't wowed me, but the experience was pleasant. I think this Daily Darjeeling hits a really nice sweet spot (pun intended!). It offers that satisfying malty black tea character but balances it beautifully with a noticeable sweetness that softens the bitterness. If you're someone who enjoys black tea but prefers it not to be overly sharp or bitter, this could be right up your alley.