Passion Fruit Banana Shou Mei

It’s hard for me to pass up something that says passion fruit. Passion fruit ice cream? Amazing. It’s not listed as an ingredient in this tea, which is kinda a bummer, but then again I don’t know many teas that actually have passionate fruit as an ingredient. Its a tart flavor and not something I’m tasting much of. I’m getting grassy notes, hints of banana, and some mild woodsy tones. I think this tea needs a new name. Grassy banana shou mei. Or maybe grass skirt banana shou mei. Anyway, despite the fact that passion fruit is lacking it still has a nice white base.

This tastes good, but iced, I don’t taste much in the way of passion fruit OR banana. It is kind of sad actually, particularly because I adore passion fruit. Still tasty, but wouldn’t recommend it given the flavor it is supposed to be.

Iced the last of this blend and I think that was a bad plan because something super weird happened…the banana took on a very artificial quality and not in the good banana medicine type way. The combination of hay-like shou mei, and artificial banana is really unpleasant and making it hard to finish this cup. And oh, there is still no passion fruit :(. Thank you Roswell Strange for sending some my way but this isn’t one I have a hard time saying goodbye to. Still, it’s always fun to try new things. 165.

Backlog:

OK, I’ve been slacking off again and now I’m really, really behind. (I’m imagining Sil is smiling.)

This is really yummy. Very fruity, banana and passion fruit work very well together. The Shou Mei is delicate but it doesn’t allow itself to be overpowered by the fruit notes. Soft, a little earthy and a little bit creamy, and these notes meld together with the fruit notes in a very pleasing way.

It’s almost smoothie-like.

Sipdown (127)!

Slightly overleafed cup, but that’s not why it’s a sipdown. Since this is one that hasn’t strongly impressed me I decided to have one more cup of it, to be sure of my decision, and then pass it along to my friend Robyn if my opinion on this being somewhat mediocre hadn’t changed.It hasn’t.

While this was enjoyable, and the portion I scooped out had big banana pieces that passed along some big banana flavour – I’m still not mind blown and this is still desperately missing the Passion Fruit. You can’t make a tea with Passion Fruit as part of the name and then not deliver on it. It’s just so disappointing.

But still; not a bad tea, just not what it promises and, for that reason, hard to get behind.

This is a nice fruity white tea. And, 52Teas does fruity white teas really well. When I opened the bag I smelled banana. Wonderful banana. I love banana flavored teas. I have to admit that I’m not really sure what passion fruit smells or tastes like. Once brewed, the banana aroma gives way to a more general fruity aroma and taste. The banana is still there, but much more subdued. My first tasting of this tea was hot. Now I am enjoying it iced. It is good either way though I think the maltiness of the white tea and the individual flavors come through better when drinking it hot. I also love the aftertaste. It is slightly malty, slightly fruity, and sweet. The second steeping tastes more like a plain white tea, the flavorings are much less prominent.