Wild Quince Tea

I obtained this as part of a group order a few years ago and have finally gotten into it! Seeking another uncaffeinated beverage for evening sipping, it seemed a good time. I have been hesitant up to now because this is made of the young leaves of wild quince trees, and I worried about potential side effects, such as oxalate presence, as I do not wish to experience more kidney stones! I also spent a year drinking coffee.

I steeped 1g of the bunny-fluff (about 2 tsp) in 8 oz boiling spring water, western style using a stainless steel infusion strainer, for about 6 minutes to obtain a golden and aromatic liquor.

As others have noted, it smelled close to toasted walnuts. And tasted like a combination of walnuts, boiled edamame, and maybe summer squash. Sounds weird, but entirely pleasant! There was a bit of sweet velvety sensation on the tongue, and a flash of minerality followed by a fleeting aftertaste that left the mouth feeling fresh. No astringency, no bitterness, no sourness, smokiness, or compost notes.

I enjoyed the tisane quite a bit and will continue to do so, sharing it with friends, possibly increasing the amount of dry material. And now that autumn is here, it’s time to get my hands on some quince fruit and cook up a batch of jam for spreading on crostini with sliced fruit and varied cheeses! Thanks to Martin Bednář for organizing the group order from (the seemingly defunct) Georgian Tea 1847!

Stunning herbal tea. gmathis’s bunny fluff is apt. In hand it smells like hay, walnuts and milk chocolate. A dry, fluffy scent.

Absolutely unfiltered first impression: dimethyltryptamine, Payless Shoe Source, mothball, dung. I’m finding it so difficult to shake the associations that I struggle to come up with other words.

Sweet-dry hay and earthy walnuts? Something vegetal? White grape-ish? Old flowers? Mineral. Cooling – I didn’t expect that looking at the dry bunny fluff.

I would love to run this herbal tea through GC-MS.

This tea was a gift from derk, who sent me lots of goodies to try!

This is so light, and reminds me of the envelope of milkweed fluff that I just gifted to my son! Light and soft and oh so airy. I know it said you can mix it with black tea if you wish, but I really wanted a caffeine free pot to share with Ashman so we had it plain.

I thought it was good, really better than I expected after seeing the recommendation to mix it with black tea. I thought they were suggesting that due to a lack of flavor or to cover an unpleasant one, but I found it sweet and an amiable cup or three before bed. It did remind me of chamomile, warm hay, and soft herbs.

Thank you, derk! :)

Oh, gmathis, your “bunny fluff and garden seeds” description of the dry tea is perfect. I just kind of want to snuggle it.

Walnut skins, green melon rind, wheat germ… there is a toastiness that makes me want to sit down to breakfast, but maybe that’s just because “quince” has always meant jam to me. Squash and green beans coming off the wet leaves.

For the second infusion, I added some of my precious: pure bud golden snails from What-Cha, as Georgian Tea recommends mixing this with black tea. Experiment’s on… I should have divided this sample into two, because my pot is now running out of room.

Mm, that’s lovely — the cocoa base of the snail, and that green-wheaty high note from the quince. If I needed my blood pressure lowered, I’d be happy to hear this was the answer.

Thank you, dear derk.

Derk kindly shared a little packet of this very Easter-appropriate tea: dry, it looks like bunny fluff and garden seeds. After a five-minute steep, it had a lovely wheat-chocolate scent and burnished gold color. The flavor, however, reminded me of a good Darjeeling or apple peels. A couple of you mentioned chamomile as a descriptor; I can see that, too.

Best of all, I was able to enjoy it outdoors: first day it was warm enough to sit out and feel sun on my bare toes watching a couple little woodpeckers dining on our maple tree.

Weird looking, but lovely in flavour; that’s this tea in short.

I have brewed 5 grams in family pot today, steeped for rather long; I guess it was around 10 minutes (well, big volume of the pot).

Result was welcomed by everyone. It has got quite distinctive flavour, some say herbaceous, some say camomile to be more precise, and I have to agree — it is earthy camomile with vegetal notes and I will add one descriptor by me and that’s walnuts. Yes, a little weird and uncommon, yet it’s there.

I look forward to try it more (maybe with black tea, as they suggest). Also, I have some extra… so, if anyone wants to give it a try, I can send a bit your way.

There is a nuttiness about this tea that does remind me of walnut. There’s also a unique sweetness at the end of the sip that’s a bit difficult to describe. This is calming like chamomile, but a much nicer flavour. I noticed the website says to mix this with black tea, so I’ll have to give that a try. Though it’s quite tasty on its own!

This was an interesting and unusual tea. The fluffy, pale gold and white leaves feel weightless and look different from any tisane I’ve ever had. They feel like packaging peanuts or styrofoam and smell not like quince or any kind of fruit, but rather milk chocolate. Hershey Kisses to be precise.

Anyway, I went ahead and steeped it pretty close to the instructions on the website. The tea brews up medium amber and the wet leaves smell like chamomile. I was expecting some of the chocolately aroma to make it into the brewed tea but there wasn’t even a hint of it. Instead, it has a mild, slightly earthy chamomile-like flavor with a vegetal backdrop. Notes of okra and raw yellow squash. In a blind taste test, I might mistake this for a green or oolong tea.

Not the biggest fan of this kind of tea but it might appeal to someone looking for a caffeine free alternative that resembles camellia sinensis. For me though, I will try blending it with another tisane as the flavor of the straight tea isn’t for me.