90
drank Violet by Kusmi Tea
2036 tasting notes

This is the first violet tea I’ve had. I don’t ordinarily think of violet as something edible, and I don’t think I’ve tasted it before though I’ve seen those violet candies in the little tin. I like the fragrance of violet in soap, but I tend to associate it with bath products rather than food. I haven’t tasted the violet candies precisely because I expect them to taste soapy, and that’s my primary concern going in to tasting this tea.

I also have to confess that I get confused between violet and lavender because they’re both purple and both flowers. I know this doesn’t make much more sense than getting confused between a peach and a plum, but there you have it. The way I get confused is that when I sit and try to conjure the smell of lavender, I’m pretty sure I can do it, but I conjure the same thing for violet. But of course, when I actually smell something scented violet, it clearly is different from lavender.

In the tin, the primary scent is floral. I don’t smell tea, I smell violet. Fortunately, it’s not soapy in the least. It’s like a little bouquet.

The tea’s aroma is violet around the edges, also not soapy, with a warm, slightly sweet tea in the middle.

The flavor is much more floral all around than the aroma. It’s like biting the heads off the flowers that made up the little bouquet. ;-) But it’s surprisingly nice. It’s a little frou frou but, I think, less than rose can be. Violets in general are less intense smelling than roses to me, and this is less intense as well without any of the oily quality that rose flavors can have sometimes. As it cools, the floral aspect becomes deeper and richer, and though I don’t think it crosses the line, I could see it becoming soapy if it were allowed to become room temperature. I’d advise drinking before allowing it to cool too much.

I’m torn on this one. I like it, but I have lavender teas and rose teas and jasmine teas and osmanthus teas and lychee teas and I wonder whether I really need another floral tea. But since when has reason prevailed in the decision to acquire tea?

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 30 sec
wombatgirl

Ooo – I want to try this one! I love violets!

JacquelineM

oooooooohhhhh :)

Serendipitea

I love the imagery of biting the heads of a bouquet or violets :P

This is a Must Try tea for me!

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Comments

wombatgirl

Ooo – I want to try this one! I love violets!

JacquelineM

oooooooohhhhh :)

Serendipitea

I love the imagery of biting the heads of a bouquet or violets :P

This is a Must Try tea for me!

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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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