76
drank Wild Orange Blossom by Teavana
2036 tasting notes

This was a tea of the month for April on the Classic plan. You can probably tell from the fact that it’s halfway through May and I’m just now getting to this one that I wasn’t overly excited by the sound of it. First three ingredients: Apple bits, hibiscus, rose hips. I’m puckering just reading it. This is already sounding like a job for the two bags of Tazo honeybush.

Then it goes on: beetroot, citrus peels & slices (in case you missed the orange slice the size of Alaska), flavoring, orange petals, sunflower petals, orange juice bits (um, er… I guess this means they freeze dried it? does that mean there is Tang in my Teavana?) pomegranate blossoms, rose petals.

It’s beautiful in its chunkiness as I’ve found all Teavana fruit blends to be and dry, it smells wildly of orange, so in that respect it lives up to its name. The tisane itself smells much more well rounded, almost like a fruit punch but without strong berry or cherry representation.

Now here’s the really interesting part. This cup, at least, IS NOT TOO TART! How can that be? Maybe it’s the “orange juice bits.” Or maybe the “flavoring” is sugar. It tastes like orange, but not in an orange juice or orange drink way, and it has a sweetness to it that is all the more welcome for being unexpected.

I don’t think this is something I’d buy again, but I’ll enjoy drinking my way through it. The reason I wouldn’t buy it again is, apart from lemon and apple, I’m not really in the market for a single note tisane. I may have to eat (or drink) those words at some point, though.

Side note: I got the Breville! We got it at Williams Sonoma tonight, a late mom’s day present. I can’t say I made this with it, though, as after getting the kids new shoes, going out to dinner, coming home and putting them to bed, we were too tired to get it out of the car. Tomorrow. ;-)

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Rabs

Hooray on the Breville!!!!! I look forward to finding out what you think of it :D

__Morgana__

Thanks! I am psyched!!!

AmazonV

CONGRATS!

SoccerMom

Congrats! Yay!! :)

whitney.

Whaaaattt. I love orange blossom :( i thought it was delicious.

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Comments

Rabs

Hooray on the Breville!!!!! I look forward to finding out what you think of it :D

__Morgana__

Thanks! I am psyched!!!

AmazonV

CONGRATS!

SoccerMom

Congrats! Yay!! :)

whitney.

Whaaaattt. I love orange blossom :( i thought it was delicious.

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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