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Feeling adventurous again today – thought I’d try my DRAGON BALL that Doulton sent me. Thank you once again Doulton.

Confession: I am in the very small minority (perhaps the only person here on Steepster!) who does not like to see leaves unfurl, or display teas! I think they look like deep sea creatures/aliens being born and they scare me. I think it all stems from when my mother let me watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers on television (this was the 1970s) at a tender age and I didn’t sleep right for over a year.

SO – the dragon ball will be doing its thing in my very opaque tea pot :)

I do find the dry Dragon Ball very pretty, and I did parade it around my office showing everyone what I was about to drink!

Steep 1: I don’t know what it looks like, but I can say it TASTES utterly delicious! Smooth and so SWEET!!! Kind of buttery and kind of …tea and Pastry keeps coming to mind. No bitterness at all. I can’t get over how naturally sweet :) I didn’t put the ball into a tea filter bag because I thought it would be too constraining, and I don’t have a strainer at work, but the little bit of leaves that are in my cup are not bothersome at all and have not affected the taste.

Steep 2 (3min): A bit darker of a brew, but again not at all bitter. I don’t know – I think I taste tea with a buttery sweet pastry with a little cinnamon in it. A little floral on the tail end. It’s amazing!!!! I’m not sure what kind of oolong this is compared to Oriental Beauty, but it reminds me of a slightly spicy darker version of the Oriental Beauty I had at Radiance. That sweetness!!!

Steep 3 (4 min): Still phenomenal! Pretty much the same as the 2nd steep.

I’m going to keep on steepin’ on, (the whole office is ordering Chinese today and this will go great with my Wonton Soup and Black Bean Chicken!) and will edit this post in the afternoon :)

This tea is EXCEPTIONAL!!! I WANT MORE DRAGON BALLS!!!

(did I just say that!?!?!)

EDIT: SIX amazing, delicious infusions. This tea is wonderful to sip, and wonderful with food. I HAVE to order some soon. Doulton, how many dragon balls do you get when you get 1/4 lb? I can’t picture and want to make sure I order enough.

The fortune in my fortune cookie: An optimist is the human personification of spring.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Rabs

LOL! Great note :D I’ll admit that I too am not a fan of watching teas unfurl – especially the flowering ones for pretty much the reasons you stated (without the Body Snatchers memory – I have different kindertraumas). I’m not interested in the typical teas unless I imagine them screaming in agony – which seems a bit demented to me, so I avoid doing it ;)

Dan

I can just hear everyone, “Don’t drink the tea, its an alien.”

__Morgana__

Lol. I admit, I like watching them unfurl and I’m eager to see my dragon ball… ahem… descend….

SoccerMom

I caved and ordered these Dragon balls.

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Comments

Rabs

LOL! Great note :D I’ll admit that I too am not a fan of watching teas unfurl – especially the flowering ones for pretty much the reasons you stated (without the Body Snatchers memory – I have different kindertraumas). I’m not interested in the typical teas unless I imagine them screaming in agony – which seems a bit demented to me, so I avoid doing it ;)

Dan

I can just hear everyone, “Don’t drink the tea, its an alien.”

__Morgana__

Lol. I admit, I like watching them unfurl and I’m eager to see my dragon ball… ahem… descend….

SoccerMom

I caved and ordered these Dragon balls.

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Bio

I love to cook, bake, read, paint, knit, do needlework, and garden. I need my coffee, but I LOVE my tea. I work at an Art School, and attend a large public university doing post-bac work (my BA is in English). I’m interested in the liminal spaces between art and craft, the academic and the practical, the individual and community, and the old and the new. I’m currently exploring these ideas through the disciplines of education, literature, history, and psychology.

I enjoy writing tasting notes, but have decided not to numerically rate teas as of 9/14/10. For an explanation, see my looooong tasting note about Mountain Malt from the Simple Leaf.

My favorites:
Chinese black teas
A good “milk and sugar” English style black
Earl Grey (classic, and in all variations!)
Vanilla teas (classic, and in all variations!)
Jasmine, Rose, Violet and other froofy, flowery teas!
An Occasional Oolong
Flavored Rooibos
Herbal Tisanes

Location

Collingswood, NJ

Website

http://jackiemania.wordpress....

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