Yay I finally got my TeaVivre samples! I’ve been really excited to try their black teas. Thanks Angel for the very generous samples! This tea was the one I was most anxious to try because it’s so unique. :) The pearls are about a half-inch in diameter, and the color is about an equal mixture of brown and golden tips. They smell divine – very sweet honey with some cocoa, malt, and bread notes. I did two separate steeps (4 pearls each) and then a resteep.
The first steep, I followed the package directions and let it go for 5 minutes. The aroma was very malty in a beer kind of way, with bread and honey and some light cocoa. The taste was…meh. It was very one-note and the malt dominated. I was surprised it did not get bitter at all, even with the long steep.
Second try, I went for 3 minutes. The aroma was more sweet honey this time, but the beer scent was still there with stronger cocoa. The taste was more complex, with some strong honey notes and a little bit of bread or malt. Not really cocoa though. I then resteeped the same leaves for 4 minutes, and got a flavor somewhere between the other two.
I feel like I didn’t get the full flavor out of this tea. The steeping parameters that others have used are so widely varied that it’s hard to know what to sweet spot is. My only idea is to try more pearls, maybe 5, and a shorter steep time. Any suggestions would be amazing. :)
Flavors: Bread, Honey, Malt
Preparation
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I like this one steeped for 9 minutes. Sounds weird for a black tea, but it’s good! I also like my black teas with a splash of milk and a little sugar. That timeframe seems to bring out the dark chocolate notes. Good luck!
Thanks! I definitely have enough to try this a few different ways, although I generally try not to add anything to straight teas.
I like this one steeped for 9 minutes. Sounds weird for a black tea, but it’s good! I also like my black teas with a splash of milk and a little sugar. That timeframe seems to bring out the dark chocolate notes. Good luck!
Thanks! I definitely have enough to try this a few different ways, although I generally try not to add anything to straight teas.