Last teabox black, from the Discovery Teabox, so thank you to Skysamurai for organizing and all who participated and shared teas in the teabox! (All I have left now are some very old teabox pu’erhs from the very last Here’s Hoping Teabox… and since pu’s aren’t my favorite, I’ve continued to sort of… uh… “let them age”? Hahaha.) Another floral tea, so of course I wanted to try it! Scooped a teaspoon (CBA to weigh this morning), 3 minute steep, 350ml of 205F water for my work thermos. Brewed to accompany my two pieces of toast with marmalade and then take to work with me.
This is a strongly lavender black tea. The florality isn’t perfumy but has a bit of a herbaceous bite, and that is with a short 3 minute steep (I bet any longer and it would’ve gone very bitter, as lavender in high quantities tends to do that easily). This is probably stronger in lavender than any Lavender Earl Grey I’ve ever had… but then, maybe the bergamot is cutting through the lavender some in those cases. I like lavender, but omph, it is very heady here, and if I knew it would be this strong, I would’ve prepared this as a latte (I love me some lavender milk). As a bonified, 100% loves-all-things-lavender fan, and even I feel this tastes like a little too much, I think the blend could’ve either done with a) a little less lavender in the ratio or b) a stronger black base to compensate. I’m really not able to pick out any particular notes from the base black tea against the lavender. That said… the base tea is supposed to be apricot-flavored?! I think that was what interested me the most about this blend, as apricot plus lavender sounded like an absolute win of a flavor combo. But I do not taste any apricot at all! That’s a bit disappointing too. Who knows, maybe it is in there, but with the lavender being so strong, there is just no way to taste it…
I added a teaspoon of honey and a dash of lemon juice to the cup to add a bit of a mellowing effect against the strength of the lavender, and that was actually quite pleasant (I somehow always forget additives are there to save an otherwise meh cup!) I will probably continue that going forward with future cups, or go with the latte idea, since the milky/vanilla flavor will help compliment/cut through the lavender flower as well.
Not one of Simpson & Vail’s florals that I would purchase (it’s no Violet Black!) as without the novelty of the apricot with the lavender, I can easily add lavender buds to any black tea myself, and then control the propotions more to my taste. Definitely glad I got the chance to sample this first, since it’s the sort of thing I probably would’ve bought for myself and then been a bit disappointed that it wasn’t what I really wanted. Thanks so much for the sample, tea_sipper!
Flavors: Floral, Herbaceous, Lavender
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Yeah, nevermind the puerh. :D
I’m not ignoring the pu’erh, I’m aging it! :-D
Mastress Alita Me too! That’s why I haven’t been drinking or posting about any pu’erh tea. The last one I tried recently was White2Tea’s If your reading this it’s too late. I think it still needs to rest a bit.
It was kinda a joke, Kawaii, hahaha. Every pu I’ve tried thus far tastes like dirt or swamp water to me, and I haven’t liked it, so I’m kinda “putting off” drinking them. I’m just “rebranding” the “putting it off” as “aging them” :-P
Yeah, nevermind the puerh. :D
I’m not ignoring the pu’erh, I’m aging it! :-D
Mastress Alita Me too! That’s why I haven’t been drinking or posting about any pu’erh tea. The last one I tried recently was White2Tea’s If your reading this it’s too late. I think it still needs to rest a bit.
It was kinda a joke, Kawaii, hahaha. Every pu I’ve tried thus far tastes like dirt or swamp water to me, and I haven’t liked it, so I’m kinda “putting off” drinking them. I’m just “rebranding” the “putting it off” as “aging them” :-P