Honestly, I’m a little shocked that I could wait this long to try this tea that QuiltGuppy so kindly sent me. I’ve wanted to try Royal Wedding for quite a while now, but I haven’t gotten myself to the Harney Soho store so I just keep waiting and hoping it doesn’t disappear from their inventory any time soon. But yay I get to try it now!
I smell primarily a sweet vanilla-almond of the dry leaf through the sachet. Unfortunately I forgot to start my timer when I poured the hot water, so I think I probably steeped it about 3 minutes, but who really knows! Well at least I have another sachet for a proper steeping. The brewed tea is a medium amber color (actually almost identical to the amber earrings I’m currently wearing) and the slightly vegetal aroma of the white tea comes through now as a grassy back note to the otherwise very sweet smelling vanilla and almond aromas. I guess I get coconut as well, but I’m having trouble currently distinguishing it from the nutty-sweet-vanilla scent in general.
My first thoughts were this is delicious! I do get a slight bitterness/astringency from the white tea, but also a rush of vanilla-y sweetness, which only gets stronger as it cools. The primary flavors I get are vanilla and a bit of almond; it is a sweet almond, not as much a raw nutty one, but it’s light and thus not quite marzipanny. I can also detect a creamy coconut note, but for me it’s not very strong; I agree with ashmanra that it reminds me of a great cookie. All the sweetness is tempered by the ever present white tea in the background, which grounds things and keeps it from being too cloying (who am I kidding, I wouldn’t think it was cloying anyway, but for some it might have been without the substantial white tea flavor).
All in all… a keeper! I’ll definitely have to make sure I grab a tin, and I hope the run isn’t too limited!
