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drank Watermelon Dragonwell by Custom (Butiki)
6112 tasting notes

Stacy was kind enough to pass along with my last order a sample of the Watermelon Dragonwell that she concocted prior to the creation of Watermelon Xylophone, as I was quite interested in the idea!

The aroma of this one dry was a bit difficult to discern, as the packet was located next to the packet of Cider Guayasa (which smells absurdly good!), so that’s all I could smell. However, once out of the packet I could smell a bit of sweet fruitiness.

Unfortunately, as is typical of me, I brewed up a bunch of teas and forgot about them for a couple hours, so this one is cold now… however I’m rather enjoying it! The dragonwell is light and a kind of green beany flavour, but I can still taste a melony flavour lurking in the background, and unlike with Watermelon Xylophone, it’s coming off a bit more like watermelon than cantaloupe! It’s been recommended that this tea be tried with some rock sugar to bring out the watermelon, so attempt #2 will involve that, but I wanted to taste it on its on first. I’m intrigued by the idea of blends with green teas that lean more heavily toward vegetal as opposed to seaweedy/brothy notes, and this one seems to indicate that it would be possible and tasty to make such a blend! I think the tea would definitely be better with stronger flavouring, but as that wasn’t really an option, it was probably best to go with a white tea, but I enjoy this regardless.

Thanks so much for the sample, Stacy!
Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 30 sec
7 comments
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Butiki Teas
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You’re quite welcome. I do intend on flavoring dragonwell at some point. With what is really the question. I’m thinking maybe some type of citrus.

Alphakitty
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Ooh, citrus dragonwell sounds delicious! Maybe yuzu? (okay, I just want more yuzu teas haha)

Butiki Teas
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I don’t think I’ve ever had yuzu. What does it taste like?

Alphakitty
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Yuzu is kind of like a cross between lemon and grapefruit, but with a really unique taste that’s hard to describe exactly. It’s my favorite citrus, but there don’t seem to be a lot of teas flavored with it.

Butiki Teas
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Huh, that sounds interesting.

Alphakitty
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It is! Lots of Japanese candies are yuzu flavored, you can probably find some if you have an Asian market nearby.

Kittenna
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Sounds delicious!! As long as the citrus is a fruity flavour and not a peel flavour. I dislike how citrus peel is used to flavour so many things. Ick!

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Comments

Butiki Teas
Delete

You’re quite welcome. I do intend on flavoring dragonwell at some point. With what is really the question. I’m thinking maybe some type of citrus.

Alphakitty
Delete

Ooh, citrus dragonwell sounds delicious! Maybe yuzu? (okay, I just want more yuzu teas haha)

Butiki Teas
Delete

I don’t think I’ve ever had yuzu. What does it taste like?

Alphakitty
Delete

Yuzu is kind of like a cross between lemon and grapefruit, but with a really unique taste that’s hard to describe exactly. It’s my favorite citrus, but there don’t seem to be a lot of teas flavored with it.

Butiki Teas
Delete

Huh, that sounds interesting.

Alphakitty
Delete

It is! Lots of Japanese candies are yuzu flavored, you can probably find some if you have an Asian market nearby.

Kittenna
Delete

Sounds delicious!! As long as the citrus is a fruity flavour and not a peel flavour. I dislike how citrus peel is used to flavour so many things. Ick!

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Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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