Highgarden

Do you like floral teas? I do. But I’m used to single-flower blends, like just jasmine or just rose. Here we have a mini bouquet, and it’s gorgeous. I could easily drink this by the litre. The flavours are so complementary and smooth and not perfumey. It’s also a forgiving steep, delicious at any temperature.

creamer: none
sweetener:
– first serving: none
– second serving: a bit of rooh afza (rose-flavoured syrup)
– third serving: I didn’t get that far—Mum stole the rest of the packet!

DIY Advent Calendar – Day 10

I am pretty sure Anne’s intent behind this tea was to make it a whole lot of floral. For me, that sounds like a nightmare of a tea but it was sent as a sample to Sil and I and I figured it was worth trying. Though I kept putting it off so it is probably for the best that it found its way into my DIY advent, thus forcing me to finally drink it.

I am happy to report its not as bad as I expected. It’s floral, for sure – definitely getting rose and jasmine. However, its not overwhelming. It’s also not reading entirely like perfume/potpurri. So definitely better than expected. However, still not for me so while I will finish the last tiny serving of this sample, I’d be happy if I don’t see this again after that.

The leaf smells delightfully lemony!

I was tapping out this tea into my gravity steeper on my kitchen scale, going for 4 grams. I hit 3 grams, and then a bunch lept out, hitting 6 grams! I put some back into the pouch but didn’t want to return any wet leaf from rinsing out the steeper. So I compromised and went with 5 grams.

The lemon myrtle is really the star of this tea. Like the name suggests, it’s like a walk through a garden. A garden with a lot of lemon scents, with other smells peaking at me in the background.

Oops, I let it get cool. So I added a bit of ice. It was slightly overleafed anyway, and it balanced out. Now I’m sitting in that garden on a warm day, cooling off to this tea. A slice of lemon would be great in it, I’ll bet. The vegetal notes come out a bit more for me when iced. This is really a fun, nice tea.

This came in the mystery grab bag I bought months ago and I’ve been saving it for warmer weather since it sounded so summery. My expectations were pretty low, as I don’t tend to love most floral teas. But this was a pleasant surprise! The lemon flavor keeps the jasmine and rose from coming across as perfumey and it’s actually quite a refreshing combination, especially iced! I thought the rest of my sample was destined for the TTB, but I may actually hang onto it.

Not a fan of floral teas, but I figured I’d give it a try since it came in a mystery box. The main flavors are jasmine and lemon. If this is the sort of thing you like, you’d definitely like this one. I feel pretty indifferent toward it, but that’s just my taste talking. I can tell that it’s a good tea.

This was a free sample included in a 52Teas order – the one where I basically just went ham stocking up on Winter Mint Oolong from the 12 Teas of Christmas sampler.

If I remember correctly, this was one of the teas from the Game of Thrones themed month. I’ve only see the first season of Game of Thrones, and I wasn’t a huge fan though I do have approximate knowledge of some stuff from other seasons since my brother was VERY invested in GoT when it was airing. However, I have no frame of reference whatsoever for what this tea might be intending to reference…

It’s not a flavour I probably would have ordered for myself, but I actually did like it! It’s not something mind blowing, though the rose notes present in the cup are really nice and I especially like them coupled with the very light and fresh citrus undertone. It’s that sort of agreeably floral profile that I would probably very safely be able to serve to my grandparents without resistance. Also the type of tea that would probably scale up really nice prepared in a large tea pot – a good sipping profile, over conversation.

The laurel is also a really interesting ingredient; one I don’t have much familiarity with as well so I was excited to pick through the LLT to identify it.

It’s been hard to coordinate teatime over two different timezones virtually with Todd so I just went ahead on my own this Sunday and tried another from my mystery box set; this green tea sounded nice to go with my eggrolls and white rice I was having with dinner. I was very curious about it; gunpowder green tea usually isn’t my favorite (because of the smokiness of it) and jasmine can be hit or miss for me depending on how strong the flavor/aroma of it is, but I absolultely love lemon myrtle (easily my favorite of all the lemony herbals) and rose so I was curious how the flavors would end up playing out.

The lemon comes out as the main flavor note, and it’s that nice strong, slightly tart, rich lemon that I just love, smooth and fresh and clean, the lemon myrtle really shining. There is a nice floral flavor to the tea as well, though I mainly taste the rose. Rose with lemon has always been one of my favorite flavor combinations so it is very nice. There is a strong vegetal taste from the gunpowder tea (almost a slight spinachy taste toward the back of my tongue) but I’m not getting that smoky hint that I usually taste from gunpowder, probably from the strong citrus and floral notes dominating.

It’s a nice, relaxing, floral lemon tea. I’m enjoying my warm pot of this, but would like to also try an iced brew of this at some point, too.

So I’m still working my way through my 52teas order, and already thinking of another. I don’t have the money for all this tea! To quote the song I’m jamming on, “paciencia y fe” :)

Anyway, I was hoping this was like drinking a bouquet of flowers (love me that floral) and I wasn’t wrong. There’s a strong lemon tartness in the forefront, which is nice. It’s not sour, just a touch tart. Also, there’s some sweetness present as well. But most of what you get once you move past the lemon is floral. I can taste the Jasmine and the green tea. The rose isn’t as noticeable as I would like, but it’s there too. Mmm, I’m loving this. Very good. I now wish I had grabbed some of this while it was lingering in the shop!

Overall, I can see how this wouldn’t be for everyone. It’s very floral, and while that works for me, I understand how it wouldn’t for others. The original name of Potpourri is very fitting for this, but I like the GoT name as well. Good stuff.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmNZ545oP8k

Sample from one of my 52 tea orders. Nope nope nope nope. I will always try teas in case…because there have been things I didn’t think I’d like that I have. However now that I’m reading this used to be called potpourri, I’m not shocked that it’s not a tea for me. That’s not to say that others wouldn’t love this, but I am not a fan of floral teas. :)

This tea was a stand-out in the Game of Thrones set. It certainly reminded me of the lemon cakes Sansa Stark ate when she had tea with the Tyrells of Highgarden. The tea looks beautiful with lots of different blossoms, textures, and colors in the ingredients— very photogenic. Brewed, the lemon myrtle is in the forefront, both tart and sweet, followed by the gentler tones of jasmine and rose. I found myself reaching for this tea when I wanted something flavorful but not candy-sweet. Apparently this blend was formerly named potpourri, which suits it. This blend is wonderfully fragrant in the dry leaf and when brewed in my mug. I really should snatch up any remaining samples from the store just to make sure I never run out.