Tea Review: Kandy Black Tea - Unknown

Tea Info
Type: Black tea
Producer: Unknown - obtained at Kirin Beer Factory
Origin: Sri Lanka
Brewing Parameters: 2.5 g, 100°C, 2 minutes - Western style
Appearance: Very small, broken up very dark brown tea fannings
Rating: C+ | 78/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Morning! I said I'll be brewing corn tea for the next review, but it turns out I lied. Instead, I'll be brewing this mysterious black tea my sister got at the Kirin Beer Factory that appears to have a hand-drawn (or copy of) picture, with an orange label that says KANDY on the packaging. The back of the package only says Black Tea (in Japanese), with a total weight (60g), origin, and expiration date. There is some other info I can't read, which I'm assuming is brewing information and company information.  Just as a note, I tried this tea right before the review with milk and sugar for breakfast.

Anyway, since these are fannings, the tea will brew very strong in a short amount of time– hence the 2 minutes. In fact, after two minutes, the liquid was a surprisingly dark reddish amber; it was so dark that I wasn't able to see through it unless I put the cup up to some light. The smell, of both the liquid and the leaves, was very similar to Irish or English Breakfast tea (moreso English)– that is, nutty, earthy, and a bit smoky. The flavor was on par with other black teas, with slightly sour and spicy wood notes. The aftertaste, like the smell, was smoky with a slight bit of astringency. Overall, it's an enjoyable tea, but average too. I suggest it with milk and sugar, or possibly used in something like chai.

Other Notes
Well, today marks the beginning of finals week! Wish me luck– starting today and tomorrow, I'll be spending at least an hour studying each subject (tests start on Wednesday). For the most part, the only class I'll really need to work my butt off for is AP US History, since I'm at a 90.8% (which means I'll have to get a 85% on the final to keep an A-).

 I'll also probably do the review for the corn tea today too, just so I can warm up writing for some more application essays. My plan is just to do the corn tea review, study every class, write/edit essays, and redo some of the paperwork for my science fair project, since I changed from an environmental science project to an engineering project.