Italian beers bottles are often some of the most aesthetically pleasing creations on earth.  Given the extremely well established wine tradition in Italy, it is not surprising that beers have wine or Chianti-oriented bottles.  This particular brewery (Birra Del Borgo) has gorgeous bottles along with some truly unique products.  Among their products is what I would call a double vice beer: Keto Porter is infused with Kentucky tobacco leaves.  The beer that I’m reviewing here, Te, is brewed with Shui Hsien tea leaves, which are from the Fujian province of China.  Now to the beer.

Upon the pour, the beer was settled and clear like an Italian wine in the glass.  It was a blond brew that had to be poured carefully in order to avoid the sediment that was visible on the bottom of the glass. 

In terms of aroma, the beer had touches of Belgian candy sugar, apple, and (believe it or not) an Elmer’s glue hint.  You ate glue as a kid; why not drink it as an adult?  Seriously, though, the paste hint was very very slight.  Of course, there was also a touch of tea aroma to the beer. 

In terms of the taste, the beer was dry and slightly bitter on the front.  The apple hints came through on the taste.  The tea taste in the beer was very subtle and grew toward the end of the beer into a long and lingering finish.  Between the tea leaves and the nature of the beer, it was fairly dry.  The beer itself was only 4.2% ABV, so it wasn’t the alcohol that dried it out.  So, how did this beer stack up?

It’s really hard to categorize a beer like this.  Certainly, it was a different sensory experience than I am used to, and honestly, I would like to try another bottle at some point…especially if it could be paired with food.  At this point I would offer a question mark on the stars for the style category, since it is somewhat category defying.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: