Pear Tea

Apparently I remembered wrongly when I thought I didn’t like this tea. Thankfully I had enough to send samples to Stephanie and keychange anyway. Sending on Monday if I can get to the post office (if work isn’t crazy).

This is still a juicy juicy pear and the black tea is bold and I’m not sure what the roughness is that I taste, malt? I know and have drunk a lot more tea since this one I drank almost a year ago but this one is still pretty good. I don’t reach for pear tea often and this one is getting rather old so I should dry to drink up/trade out soon. Maybe I will be able to buy another canister soon-ish, although not too soon because my finances are telling me strongly “No More Spending On Frivilous Things You Already Have Lots Of”. Haha.

Another generous swap sample from Dexter3657!

First off, I wasn’t overly excited by the idea of this tea. I do rather enjoy fresh pears, but the thought of a pear flavored black tea was just kinda “eh” in my mind. Boy was I wrong! OK, you know how a really good Bosc pear will have an almost floral quality to its scent/flavor? This tea somehow captures that. These French teas, man…something magical about them :)

This is from the super exciting swap box Dexter3657 sent my way! Yay! Thank you for letting me try so many Fauchon teas—couldn’t come at a better time (just discovered them last month and am in love).

I’ve only tried a couple other pear teas (Joy’s Teaspoon and Della Terra, I think?), and this one’s interesting because there’s a transformation in the type of pear from scent to taste. The smell is very sweet, like candy pear or pear syrup, but as for taste, after the upfront mysteriously smoky black tea flavor the pear comes in very juicy and fresh, with that clean “raspiness” fresh pear has. As it cools it tastes A LOT like fresh pear juice, and there’s a subtle woody tannin element from the tea that works like gangbusters with the fresh pear flavor.

That same general wonderful interplay between delicate but not disappointly watery black tea flavor and haunting, sophisticated scent is present the way it’s been in all the Fauchon teas I’ve tried (I’m totally hooked on that quality! Beginning to feel like it could be any flavor/scent whatsoever and I’d dig it if it came from Fauchon because of how it’d do that with the black tea base). Beautiful, and I know I keep using this word but I don’t know how else to put it, distinctly sophisticated. I really don’t know of another company that layers scent with delicate tea flavor the way they do.

Thank you so much! It’s so nice to be a little lovey dovey and starry eyed in the evening.

HHTTB

This one is odd. French teas are usually dead on with their fruit flavors, but this one isn’t quite right. It has a light pear flavor that I really have to focus on to get, but then it goes flat.

Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox Round #3 – Tea #21
The scent of the dry leaves here almost scared me away. It has kind of a sour scent. But the flavor is SPOT ON pear! Not one of those very green shiny pears that look so fresh but one of those brownish mottled overripe rustic pears. I can definitely mostly taste the pear skin here. Magic! The black tea is tough to describe but pairs (pears) well with it. The second steep didn’t have as much of that pear flavor but the first steep was amazing! I didn’t think the French teas were my thing before, but I can work with this one. Best pear tea I think I’ve tried! (I think I said that about a pear tea I tried from the last round of this teabox.)
Steep #1 // few min after boiling // 3 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min

One of my scores at Homesense the other day. During the last Fauchon craze, I had steered away from it because I am not really a fan of pears. In general they are not really my favourite fruit or flavour.

I was a bit worried when I opened up the tin and took a whiff. It smelled like that fake pear smell and subsequently taste that you get from pear candy. It did smell a little more genuine than a candy would, but it still made me cringe a little. For 10.00 though, how could I go wrong, and I am sure I will have guests who like pears in the future so why not.

Brewed, it was subtle and crisp. Much nicer than I was expecting. It isn’t my favourite, but it is lovely. The French are always so masterful at blending and smells though, so I should have known better. If you’re thinking of buying it when you see it in your local TJ Maxx chain store, I would recommend it :)

Sipdown (116/123)!

Thanks so much to Cameron B. for the sample! I see you also had this one today, so I guess great minds definitely think alike.

This was really, really amazing! I was honestly expecting mostly black tea with maybe just a hint of pear (like a “pear scented” black; you know, light…) but the pear was actually very pronounced, and very authentic. And I’m really gonna have to go with what Cameron B. said and say that the whole tea emulated more of a “cooked pear” vibe.

I also got some super light floral notes and some slightly stronger honey notes from the black base, which was very smooth and rich; which was just a bit surprising seeing as I think I over steeped this by a few minutes.

If I ever managed to find a way to get a hold of this again, but in a larger quantity, I think I would definitely do so. It was a really good pear tea! And, it might not being saying much given I haven’t tried many, but probably the best Fauchon tea I’ve had yet. I suppose on the wishlist this goes!

Side Note: The Steepster chat group is awesome, but really distracting. It took me probably half an hour longer than it should have to finish this tasting note.

I’m not entirely sure why I haven’t tried this one yet! I bought it from Hapatite a while ago, and it’s just been sitting, waiting patiently alongside my other flavored teas. I decided to pull it out today because I was wanting a flavored black. I don’t see any pieces of fruit in here, just black tea leaves. It smells very pear-like and somewhat tart. It reminds me of some other pear-flavored thing, but I can’t quite place it. I steeped for 3 minutes.

This pear in this tea is actually fairly authentic, in my opinion. Granted, it’s more of a cooked pear flavor, but it’s quite true to the fruit. I added a bit of sugar to mine, and it’s reminding me of canned pears with a bit of a honey note over the top. Very yummy, and I would recommend that any pear lovers out there try this one! :)

From the Round 3 Here’s Hoping TTB

Yay for another good pear tea! This one has a nice juicy pear flavor, and there is a malty note, too, which kinda makes me think of a pear tart… almost. This is a fairly hefty black tea – something I’d happily drink as a breakfast tea. I think it could take on a harsh edge if over steeped, but my cup was very nice. Sweet and spot on with the pear flavor.