This is my first flowering tea! Thanks to Angel from Teavivre for providing this free sample! It was cool watching the tea ball slowly unfurl and bloom into two red-tipped flowers. I took several photos and posted them here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/96132028@N08/14127152033/in/photostream/. In retrospect, I probably should have brewed this in a tall, slender glass instead of a short, fat one. The red blooms appear to be quite tall, so they’re bent over and not quite as pretty as they have the potential to be. I added more water to the second infusion to remedy this (see the last photo in the series).
The liquor is super pale and light. Maybe I’m just really hungry, but the brewed tea aroma smells like udon. Wow, what flavor!!! Holy cow, this is incredible! It’s soft and subdued but very flavorful all the same. I’m getting mostly floral qualities mingled with a touch of jasmine and supported by a lovely Chinese green tea base. It’s not grassy at all. It’s vegetal instead and leans towards the buttery end of spectrum without quite reaching it. There’s a touch of sweetness too and no bitterness or astringency. Ohh yum!!
I absolutely love this! And you know what? This was harvested in June 2011 and has sat in my cupboard ever since. Blasphemy! Seriously, if you haven’t tried this, you need to. I think I might stock up on this to share with guests when we have company over. I feel that it’s a tea anyone can enjoy, veteran and new tea drinkers alike. And visually it’s just so pretty! :)
