Emerald Sun

So a friend of mine recently bought a new house, and as a housewarming gift I gifted her some assorted teas. Some of the teas in the assortment were flowering, and she sent me a picture of one of the blossoms floating in her clear glass mug. It was so pretty, and I realized I hadn’t had flowering teas in a long, long time. So today at the store I picked up a “petite bouquet” box of Numi’s flowering tea. This was the one I grabbed out of the box at random.

I don’t feel like it’s very fair to judge a tea like this by its flavor; I certainly don’t pick up flowering teas off grocery store shelves because I’m looking for a high-quality, fresh-picked tea experience (come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve actually bought tea off store shelves in at least two years). I’m seeking more of a visual experience here; maybe a nostalgic one, even.

The taste is pleasant though. It’s not complex, it’s not especially interesting, it doesn’t bring any flowery descriptors to mind, but it is a light, gentle flavor that nicely accompanies the experience of watching the leaves unfold.

When dry, you can easily see the little white flower in the center, but as the tea “blooms” into a round, sizable pompom of green-ness ,the tiny flower almost gets lost in the bundle. I guess flowers don’t expand as much when wet as tea leaves do.

I resteeped this many times, just adding more hot water to my little 8oz mug when I drank it down, until no flavor was left. Again, the flavor was nothing special, but held up pretty well through the steepings, probably around three or four. By the end, I was suitably relaxed.

Overall, very nice. I should make a note to keep a few of these around for days when I’m just need some relaxing eye-candy.

I drank the whole thing. Not very fussy about brewing it, either. Just kept the pot full and the liquor poured off. Got about 6 very decent pots of delicious afternoon.

with agave nectar!

Certainly an earthy and pleasant green tea. Something about the scent reminds me of waking up early after camping, stepping out of the tent, and taking that first whiff of clean air with a hint of last night’s campfire. Many cups of tea from one tea flower.

I really like this for the amount of reliable tea you can make and the quality of the cups of tea. Nice for a rainy afternoon

Today’s tea was picked because I’ve been longing for a new taste test for a while. I’ve been putting it off the last few days, something always coming up, whether it’s plans that were priorly made, plans that dropped into my lap suddenly, or plans that showed up at my front door. So it was nice to curl up with Billy and some anime tonight, while trying a new tea. This one I picked because I wanted more of a flower display today than something else generic and ball shaped.

And this one didn’t disappoint. It floated as a thin green disc at the top for a very long time at the top. Then slowly it sprouted outward and downward in long green leaves. I wasn’t sure it would have much of a flower at this point. It hovered at the top doing this for about ten or fifteen minutes, before sinking at the angle this picture was taken at. It’s a beautiful little white flower in the center isn’t it?

When I pulled off the lid after steeping I was hit immediately with a very rich, earthy, nutty scent as the description says. This one though on it’s first pot should not be steeped as long as all the other teas have needed. After a good twenty minutes the first cup was startling in it’s intensity. It’s a very clean and clear taste though, which makes it soothing and good for a calm night at home. The second pot on this one was utterly amazing though even given time to steep. It was a soft, clean, clear green tea flavor that rolled earthy around your mouth and let very little of an after taste.

I let the last pot steep a long time while I drove Billy home and came back myself. I’m pleased to say this tea is also amazingly good had cold. It’s even softer steeping in the third pot. Taking a sip cold, it rolls neutrally almost blankly around your mouth when taking a sip. But as you swallow a delightful, almost sweet, green tea flavor slips in strongly. It only gets more intense with the next sip. But as the third steep it never becomes over powering or aggressive.

I’m very definitely a fan of this one.

Display: 3
Taste: 4

With the right amount of sugar added (my preference with white teas) this was drinkable, but something about the flavor was off-putting to me overall. I don’t think I’ll get this one again for myself, but I also wouldn’t throw it out if it was part of a mixed set or given to me as a gift.