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Backlogging:

Thanks History Laced for letting me try this tea with you in another wonderful tea tasting.

I tried this tea 1/9/13. I have a little journal that I make tasting notes in and try to put one in every time I remember to do so. I have been in bed all day and finally mustered the strength to get up and grab my journal. I am unsure as to whether this is a sample or something that she ordered online. At this tasting, this was the only tea my boyfriend got to brew before having to leave and handle school matters and consequently the only boyfriend review. Sorry everyone!

Observation 1: My boyfriend prepared this tea, steeping at boiling for 6 minutes. The dry leaves have plum and peach notes with a small hint of floral-ness.

Observation 2: Naked this tea is a bit astringent, but I suspect the kettle was too hot. This tastes sweet and vegetal with jasmine and rose as an afterthought and the black tea base dominating on the palate.

Observation 3: With raw sugar, I am reminded of perfume. The rose water dominates this blend once sweetened. The bitterness of the green tea is more noticeable.

Observation 4: I did not try this with milk or creme due to the green tea in its base, I am not fond of green tea with milk.

Observation 5: After a little while of mulling over this blend, I suffered a perfume headache.

Overall,I just seem to not like black/green blends. It is very hard to steep at the right temperature and requires too much experimentation just to be palatable for me. I think this would be an excellent green tea or an excellent black tea, but not at the same time.

Boyfriend remarks: Tastes like a flowertastic flowerific explosion! wiggles hands wildly

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec
Becky

You had me at “flowertastic flowerific explosion.” Haha!

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Becky

You had me at “flowertastic flowerific explosion.” Haha!

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Bio

A casual tea drinker since my childhood; I recently began to truly explore international tea culture in my search for the perfect tea ritual in my extremely hectic lifestyle. I am a young pantheist college student pursuing the science of medicine with a minor in bioethics (philosophy) and I firmly believe that having a ritual for relaxation and meditation is crucial to physical and emotional wellbeing. I recently hosted my first afternoon tea party and hope to assemble a routine arsenal of tea and literature enthusiasts to share my teatime. My tastes are international and I embrace styles and ideas of different cultures across the centuries. I look forward to tea and literary recommendations from you all!

So I know there is no proper way to truly gauge teas as the best or the worst, but like with education, a standardized rubric system is very important to communicate certain aspects of a quality before one has a chance to read in-depth reviews.

It is with this in mind that I strive to follow the proceeding guidelines and rubric:

1. I shall not provide a grade based upon an improperly brewed tea. This includes: experimental blending, scalded leaves, oversteeping/understeeping and insufficient amounts of leaves provided.

2. All rated teas must initially be steeped in accordance to the guidelines provided by the tea company. Addendum/reevaluation may occur if properly documented.

3. I shall try my very best to leave personal preference out of the scope of grading. However, I shall endeavor to be very clear of my opinion of the teas that I rate.

Grading Rubric
100 point scale:

- Clearly and concisely conveys the flavors of the artist’s intent with no supplemental explanation if the flavors are within the taster’s experience (20 points)
- Requires menial ingredient adjustment (i.e.: milk, sugar, stevia, etc.) to achieve the flavors intended by the artist. (15 points)
- Is completely consistent in flavor and quality from batch to batch. (15 points)
- Requires little to no adjustment to preparation (sans accounting for regional differences in altitude, airpressure, etc…) for a full flavored steeping (10 points)
- has a very high quality tea base that compliments the blend (note: does NOT require whole leaves)(10 points)
- Re-steeps at least two to three times strongly if able. (if bagged, re-steeps twice well) (10 points)
- Stores very well (No flavor diminishment when stored in a dark, cool and airtight space for short periods of time). If bagged, is packaged promoting optimal infusion, ease of use and freshness. (10 points)
- has a clear explanation of ingredients, allergens and preparation instructions. (5 points?)
- Is very well priced in relation to the quality of ingredients and quantity provided. (5 points)

Location

Los Angeles, CA, USA

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