Tipsy Gypsy Tea

This has been a “share the last of my tea with my fiance” day apparently. He wants to try all of my teas that he hasn’t tried yet, so I have been saving this until I was able to drink it with him. It is nice to be able to share a tea with somebody you love. Especially a romantic rose tea.

The only thing that I don’t like about this tea is that there wasn’t a consistent amount of rose petals in the tea. This last cup is light on the rose, but it is still there. I need to get more rosy teas because I adored this one.

Backlog #3: I needed something sweet and rosy to get me through the day. I am almost out of this tea and I am so glad I tried it. I love rose and I need to get more tea with roses in it. Or just get a bunch of rose to blend with other teas when I want an extra rose kick.

I found some more rose petals in the bag. Now I am tasting the lovely sweetness of the rose against the black tea. I am going to have to get some more rose tea in the future.

I really did run out of rose petals in this bunch. I think I only have about 4-5 cups left. Less if I prepare the tea to drink in my white cat mug. At least it is a pretty good black tea. I just really miss the rose flavor. The roses made it sweeter.

It is really hit or miss every time I have this tea because there is just not enough rose in the blend. Each time I get a different amount of rose and the black tea base is a little flat without it. It is times like these when I just need to get a pouch of rose blooms or blossoms or hips or whatever is in this tea to make it rosey to just add to the tea when I don’t think there is enough in it. Then it would be perfect every time.

I had a little experiment with my french press today. If I could brew my mate in it, then logic dictates that I should be able to brew tea in it too. So, I did. I used four teaspoons since my tea ball fits about 2-3 and my french press hold two cups. I managed to dig out a rose blossom from the tea as well.

The cup was nice and smooth and rosy. It was so cool to watch the tea leaves get bigger and the water to turn this nice golden amber. A few tea leaves did manage to get on the wrong side of my filter, but no leaf escaped from the press itself. I think I might have found a new favorite vessel to brew my tea in. If I want to keep it warm, then I can just dump it into my little red tea pot and the ceramic will keep it a little warmer for a little longer.

Making a pot of something rosy and delicious to sip on while I finish editing my story.

I actually remembered I have a real teaspoon to measure out my tea leaves with. The only trouble is that I didn’t get any of the rose powder and I think my tea may have ran out of rosebuds, so this tastes just like plain black tea. Still better than Lipton black tea, but I was kinda hoping for the rose. Next time, I’ll shake my pack a little and try to get some of that pink rose powder I see on the leaves and look for some more rose buds.

I think I have learned a few things about loose leaf tea since the last time I tried this. The most important thing is to actually fill my tea ball up fully halfway. According to my note, the taste was weak. I think that was because I didn’t use enough leaf because this pot full was nice and flavorful.

I could taste the black tea base and then I got a strong floral taste. I’m still not entirely sure what rose tastes like, but the other taste I was getting was sweetly floral. But it was not a honeyed sweet floral taste like I get from chamomile. It was more of an earthy floral taste. I need to find a straight herbal rose tea so I can pin down that taste better.

But I like it. And now that I am using more leaf, I will be sipping on this one more often. Nice and light before bed.

I got this tea today at a Pagan Pride festival. It is black tea infused with roses; a combination that I have always wanted to try. It is also my second loose leaf tea, so that means that I get to use my tea ball.

Drank hot. The dry leaves smell so good. It smells like a rosebush with a light undertone of plain tea. The liquor is a golden amber color and it is pretty. I found it interesting that when I steeped the tea, the flowers opened up and were a pale pink color after they were done brewing. It was interesting.

I only did one infusion of this tea because I’m not sure how well it will stand up to steeping. It tasted really light and delicate. Almost too delicate right now. I didn’t really taste any hint of anything. Maybe a little sweetness. It was not bitter at all. Even the last swallow wasn’t really bitter. It was nice. I am so glad that this will make about 10-14 cups because I will have to make this again before rating it. I never had rose, so I want to make sure that I have time to taste all of the complexities of the cup before saying how much I like it.

I also saw the season finale of Dr Who tonight. No spoilers, but OMG! I can’t wait until the next season!