Black Dragon Pearls [duplicate]

Not a builders brew by any means, don’t brew this when you are in a hurry. But if you wait for it and allow the cup to cool, malty, yeasty chocolate is your reward. I’ve had dragon pearls that were easier to brew and drink, so I don’t know if I need this in my cupboard, but I’d be tempted to add it to an order.

For a Day Out (we get them rarely, so it deserves capitalization), we did a run to Northwest Arkansas yesterday. Highway 12 slithers like a snake through tree tunnels for miles until you find an off-road that leads to War Eagle Mill, a working flour mill with folksy gifts and coarse ground cornmeal for sale. The way back always includes a detour to a picnic area on Beaver Lake—on a Tuesday, it was deliciously silent. We watched minnows do laps around the dock and a bald eagle do laps around the lake.

Um…tea. Oh, yeah.

Eventually, you have to drive back into civilization with some upscale big-city shopping venues, including Savoy Tea. We hadn’t been in the shop since before the plague, and it’s been streamlined—instead of a tea parlor vibe with curlicues and frills, it’s leaner and cleaner and looks like a tea lab.

However, the Great Wall of Tea is just as much fun as it ever was with little sample sniffy jars and we brought home a nice little cache, including these dragon balls, beautiful little dark-and-gold orbs.

The scent of the steeped cup this morning was so promising I expected eye-rolling pleasure, but due to operator error (I over-watered and under-balled), the melba toast flavor I expected was only barely detectible, even though the texture was nice and satiny on the tongue. Eh, there’s always tomorrow!

This is a type of tea that is totally different to me. I’ve never heard of Dragon Pearls, so I thought I’d give it a go. Today, I was with my awesome, tea loving aunt(MsWhatsIt) and we ventured to our favorite tea store. Upon arrival, I was totally draw to the black tea selection. I love love LOVE black teas. Anyways, I saw a funny looking loose leaf tea that was tightly wound up into balls. I saw the the name was Dragon Pearls. I then opened the small jar and took in the aroma of this tea. Loving the smell of it, I of course bought it. It took me a while to get home this afternoon, but that’s okay. The tea was worth the wait. After tasting it, I thought it tasted a little funny. Again a tea I’m not used to trying. After a few more sips, I decided it needed a little bit of sugar, and by a little bit, I mean just a pinch. Too much would cancel out the naturally sweet part of this. I love i! It’s sweet, and tasteful. It’s got a bit of a mint undertone. Not something you taste right away, but like a little after taste. All in all, it tastes wonderful and it’s going to take all I have to not drink it all!!