Yunnan Bouquet

Ok, now I can review this one, which I am drinking this morning. This tea isn’t actually in my cupboard, but it should be. So it’s not going to get a countdown number because it would screw everything up. But it should be about here; there’s another blends club blend here, which I will be having later this afternoon. I almost put this one in my list of blends club blends to sell (note: I have a bunch to sell that I listed over in the forums), but then I realized there isn’t actually any wacky ingredients in this that I dislike, so I decided to keep it and at least try it.

This is one of those teas that is impossible to measure out properly. Everything is long and spindly and doesn’t fit in the teaspoon. So an approximate 3 tsp (2 perfect teaspoons) went into my cup. I like this one. It reminds me a bit of the Cocoa Goji Zhu Rong, which was a blend a while ago, but this time with jasmine. It works. It’s a bit chocolatey, a bit of bright goji berry, and then an nice strong hit of jasmine with some creaminess from the yunnan white. Very tasty. And of course not a blend that they will ever bring back.

I finally decided to give some of my November Verdant delivery a go – this tea sounded so unusual (and, given how much I love the Zhu Rong and the Yunnan Jasmine White, so delicious) that I felt it would be a safe bet for a sleepy Saturday.

The dry blend smells wonderful, though the delicious jasmine and the lighter orange peel definitely are the main aromas (not, of course, that I’m complaining). I used the recommended parameters from Verdant (5g per 8oz, steep for 30"). The infusion that it produced smelled divine – all of that delicious floral aroma from the jasmine, with just light undertones of orange (and a tiny bit of the ZR’s chocolate smell). It also looked noticeably darker than the Yunnan White usually does, when steeped in the same way.

To drink, it really was rather delicious. So floral, caramelly and fragrant – a sumptuous cup of tea, if ever there was one. I’m probably a little blinded by how fabulous I normally find the Yunnan White, but I really, really liked this blend. Though it did come in the November shipment (not, of course, that I received that until early December anyway), I think this tea is actually a perfect one to have out at Christmas – the blend looks very festive and the citrussy notes from the orange peel made it really appropriate for this bitterly cold day.

The second and third steeps were definitely less jasmine-tasting – the odd Zhu Rong leaf that I scooped into the infuser came out much more, giving a stronger caramel flavour. It was still delightfully perfumed, though, so I certainly didn’t mind. And, I guess, it’s kinda nice to have a tea that changes so much, whilst remaining really delicious, the more you steep the leaves.

Excellent!