At the end of this rambling, there will be a tea note. Skip past the stars if you want to ignore said rambling.
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So when I was first introduced to tea, it was World Market’s brand of bagged teas. I loved jasmine as my first ever non-Red Diamond or Brisk tea. It led me to explore many more teas of the herbal variety and finally, after about a year in college, my sister introduced me to Teavana. My opinions about the company are for some discussion thread somewhere else, as teas go, they were my first experience with loose leaf tea and brewing a tea based on temperature and steep time instead of, “Just stick the bag in some boiling water until the water turns dark.”
Its taken a lot of years of practice, tasting, drinking and exploring to just get to know the difference between what I like and what I don’t like.
And that is where Garden Aria comes in.
While its not a straight white tea such as silver needle, it is very delicate. It was also the first white tea I ever bought.
Sadly, I bought this when it went on its 50% sale of retirement about a year ago. I still have about 1/2 of my tin left, but when it goes, I shall be a very sad panda.
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I really recommend being careful with your water temperature when brewing this one because it has a temperament to it. I love the taste of it sweetened or not, but generally, I prefer it with a sweetener. This morning I used honey. Plain ol’ in the bear-shaped bottle honey.
When you first sip this tea, it comes to the tongue with a warm tartness. I can taste the raspberry and cherry notes, but the white comes through very well. I know there is some strawberry in here, but the raspberry really is stronger.
It was my morning tea today, and since I had to work, I made a 2-cup travel cup AND 2 cups to put in my briefcase thermos. (I really love these things. Its a Thermos brand I got on sale at Target ages ago and it perfectly keeps my tea hot. When I have finished what’s in the travel mug, I can just refill it! Huzzah for a quart of tea!) When my day was getting annoying or stressful, I’d zip back to the back of the store and get a mouthful of happiness.
If anyone has tried this before, can you suggest anything similar to it? I’ve probably got at least 24 to 20 more cups left in the tin, but since I usually brew 4 cups at a time…well. Replacements are going to be searched for soon!
Have you tried Scarlet Cloud? It’s another Teavana tea that has some of the notes you were looking for. Also goes great with their Sweet Fruit Garden.
I tossed both those lil’ beasties on my ‘to buy’ list. I think the descriptions are very similar too!