Jasmine Poached Pears

Advent Calendar 2022 Day 12
Last one, from last year, though I have started my 2023 calendar already. I get why this one has been just hanging out in my tea bin though. It’s not super flavorful. Green Tea and Jasmine are there but I don’t get much sense of the pear. I describe it as a grassy green tea with a hint of jasmine.
The Bird and Blend calendar was a fun one to do last year. I managed to drink each tea each day but didn’t necessarily log them in order (obviously). After a while, I just decided that I would log them with the second tea tasting. Now to get back in the swing with the 2023 calendar!

Decided to brew this one, though I have several pouches unopened from previous subscription envelopes, but this one is new for me!
April 2021 subscription

To be honest, I have no idea what poached pears are and I don’t expect it means stolen pears. Or being hunted down illegally. I guess I need an enlightenment for that.

Anyway, I have a few green tea based flavoured teas, but pear… is quite uncommon and not sure if I had it before. Although pears are common here (we even have a few trees in garden), I rarely see pear teas in stores.

Honestly, this tea is quite interesting, but somehow, boring? When I brewed it I got rather some minty notes, like bubble gum rather than jasmine. Lightly the pears. After three minutes steeping I got quite basic green tea with some hints of jasmine and pears, but not in distinctive way I have been expecting. It was underwhelming, especially after reading so rave reviews beforehand. It wasn’t that flavourful as I have been hoping for.

I am with Cameron B. hoping for more flavourful sessions in the 20 grams I have got. Now, it’s shamefully underflavoured.

I’ve been wishing I could try this one, and they brought it back, yay! Plus it was in my subscription box for April!

Honestly though, I’m very underwhelmed. I mostly get the dry, grassy Chinese sencha base. There’s very little jasmine and even less pear…

Hmm… Well, we’ll see if my opinion changes as I sip my way through the 20g pouch.

Samurai TTB #48

I love pear but am ambivalent about jasmine, so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this one. Thankfully the jasmine is muted by the fruitiness of the pear so this comes across as a lightly floral fruity green tea rather than a mouthful of jasmine perfume. The green tea base was nice and smooth. I quite enjoyed this one and I think it would be even better iced!

I was so, so excited to see that this was available in the Boxing Day sale from Bird and Blend. It’s a flavor that was offered before I was aware of B&B, and one that I had been desperately wanting to try. I snagged two bags, and they arrived today! I immediately brewed up a cup, and it’s just as I had hoped it would be. Perfect harmony between the jasmine and pear. The green tea is present, but not overwhelming.

May Flowers! This is one of the teas that came in my mega-Bluebird cupboard sale from tea-sipper (thanks, tea-sipper!) and this seems like a very appro-po time to try it!

I can’t drink a plain, jasmine-scented tea as they are just too strong for me and come off to me like drinking perfume because of the aroma, which aggrevates my migraine-head much the same way as standing next to someone wearing too-strong perfume, but I’ve found I’m usually okay with teas that are lightly scented, by blending jasmine teas with other teas, or just including the flower blooms or petals into a blend with other scents and ingredients. When I brewed up this tea, I could definitely smell a jasmine aroma, but it wasn’t the strong, overpowering aroma I got from my experience trying jasmine pearls, it was softer, sweeter, but still very floral.

The taste of the tea was wonderful; this is the kind of jasmine tea I could drink all day! The pear base is lovely; it’s a lighter pear taste than, say, the strong juicy taste of 52Teas Pear Chai, but the jasmine notes come through easily so the two flavors blend nicely. There is the slightest bit of fruit tanginess, followed by a soft, floral sweetness. Overall, I’d say this is probably one of the nicest green blends I’ve tried and really hope Bird & Blend Co. gives it a reboot at some point!

An odd choice for an advent tea today! I forgot it is on B&B’s permanent tea wall now AND I forgot how much I like it. All the ingredients here really meld together into a fantastic cup. Though I’m not sure if it’s because this blend is aged (HOW is my pouch already five years old??!!) or I’m just going to notice it more often now that I have made the connection, the flavor is leaning a little more to that bubblegum pear. But only slightly. Still delicious.
Holiday Tea 2022 # 21: Angry Tea Room – Raspberry Lychee
Holiday Tea 2022 # 22: Bird & Blend – Jasmine Poached Pears

The notes of this blend are fruity, creamy and sour rolled into one. Is it weird to say that it smells like rhubarb and custard sweets? Probably, but it totally does! Jasmine Poached Pears tastes fruity, with a light jasmine flavour that combines with a tickle of grassy sencha. As a massive lover of jasmine, my heart ached for a strong jasmine note, so the gentleness was initially disappointing. But, the more I worked my way through the blend, the more I appreciated the balance of fruit and florals. Not exactly what I was expecting, but I ended up loving it!

For more on tea: www.tastethetea.co.uk