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This is a tea I have been meaning to review for some time. I actually started a review months before my Steepster hiatus, right around the time it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to conceal the fact that I was seriously ill, but I did not complete it. At the time, I felt that if I were to focus on reviewing something that excited me, I would be able to rediscover some of my passion for writing, get back on track with my tea reviews, and then maybe start to put myself back together so that I would be more functional, but that did not happen. Instead, I stared at a blank screen for around an hour, got angry, threw my notebook across the room, and stomped away to sulk. I guess I’m done sulking now. This was a great tea. I wish I had reviewed it when I first intended to because not only was it very good to drink, it made me happy at a time when nothing made me happy and nothing felt good.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing, I steeped 7 grams of the tea leaf and rose petal blend in 5 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the blend of dry tea leaves and rose petals emitted an overpowering rose aroma that was underscored by subtle scents of malt, cinnamon, and cedar. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of chocolate, cream, smoke, and orange zest. The first infusion introduced a subtle baked bread scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of rose, cream, and malt that were chased by hints of chocolate, orange zest, and cedar. The subsequent infusions introduced a subtle roasted almond scent. Notes of baked bread came out in the mouth alongside hints of smoke and cinnamon. Impressions of minerals, earth, cooked green beans, roasted almond could also be detected. I even noticed some hints of roasted peanut, honey, sweet potato, and brown sugar. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, cream, rose, and orange zest notes that were balanced by hints of baked bread, roasted almond, and malt.

This was not a complex or deep blend in any way, but I do not think it was ever intended to be. It was all about delivering rose petal aromas and flavors springing from a typical Dian Hong base, and it did just that. The tea was just present enough to provide some balance, but it largely stayed in the background to let the huge rose presence have its time in the spotlight. People who are not huge on floral blends, and particularly people who do not enjoy rose with their tea, would likely not be into this offering at all. People like me, however, who love rose and black tea blends would almost certainly be into it. Definitely check this out if you like floral blends that are very heavy on the floral component.