Lotus Flavored Tea

I grabbed this out of the Discovery Teabox (thanks to Skysamurai for coordinating and all who contributed!) because I have never heard of lotus flavored tea and, liking floral teas, was simply curious about it. I took a 2g sample from the box, with no guesses as to age of the sample… it’s definitely been sitting in my house now for far longer than I really should’ve allowed (I’m now putting getting all teabox teas sipped down at a priority, even if that means “drinking them the wrong way and not doing time-consuming gong fu sessions that I just can never fit into my schedule”).

Brewed, it does have a floral aroma, but it’s very delicate. There is a honeysuckle sort of sweet aroma, but also a vegetal sort of note, like a marshy/water plant aroma? The black tea base itself (from Cambodia), smells of malt, honey, orange marmalade, and hay. The flavor… isn’t really a floral black like I was expecting. It’s a nice black tea, malty but not astringent, with a bit of honeyed sweetness, but there is a sort of vegetal quality at the back of the throat that reminds me a bit of that wet, marshy taste I usually get in pu’erh, just not quite as strong. I certainly like this better than the “swamp marsh” tasting pu’s I’ve had… this is a much smoother flavor, and every now and then, at the end of a sip, a subtle sweet hint of florality will pop up on the tongue, in the aftertaste. It’s a rather strange tea. Certainly nothing I’ve tasted before. I’m still not exactly sure what the “lotus flavoring” is… but I am glad I got to try something so unique, so thanks to whoever shared this one!