Well hello Steepster, it’s been a long time again! Since my last note I’ve been to Japan and back, which was absolutely amazing and I wish I was still there, and had delicious tea, partook in a tea ceremony and bought copious amounts of tea and a new matcha bowl for myself haha. But that can be for a different note, today it is the last day of bitterly frigidly cold temperatures before a MASSIVE warm up (from – 20 C to -1..overnight) so I had to have a cozy black tea today as it’s been way too long since I’ve had a good black tea!
This tea came to me as a free sample from the ever generous Angel at Teavivre, thank you so much for your kindness to send me this tea to sample!! I opened up the sample expecting a few small pearls, but there was one giant tea ball in it (large in comparison what I’m used to anyways haha) in the cutest little wrapper. Love how it looks!
The dry smell is so sweet and seductive, wow! I was reading about the roses used in this tea and I agree that they are much different than other roses I’m used to in tea, this tea was much sweeter than rose smelling, however the floral note is still there, just luxuriously sweet, so interesting! I decided to steep it Western Style as I want a cozy mug, so I used 194 degree water and steeped for 3 minutes.
The resulting liquor is quite a dark rich red, and smells phenomenal, robust honeyed Yunnan black tea notes, with some grain notes.
As for the flavor, wow this seriously blew me away with the first sip. I have not had a good black tea in a long time, mostly due to my caffeine tolerance, but this is something else!! Bready, malty, and so much honey notes!! The rose is very subdued, it is mild but adding to the mouthfeel with a bit of dryness and that floral feel, hard to describe but it is definitely there. I can’t get over how much sweet honey there is in this, it’s like a floral honey really!! Wow. Also so far not hurting me for caffeine, my heart rate is super low drinking this and I feel great.
Overall this is a super delicious tea! Lots of honey, malt, a touch of floral, but not the rose you are thinking. If you have a fear of rosey, floral teas, this one might change your mind.
It’s also slightly romantic in a way to me, maybe because rose reminds me of my garden in the summer, and evokes fresh summer memories, but it’s making me feel sentimental. Could also have something to do with that today is mine and the bf’s 7 year dating anniversary :) a perfect tea for today! Wish he was home from work!
