Dark Rose Tea

I bought a Bamboo Tea Tray from Teasource.com and with it they sent me a sample of this, Ok I would have never,never bought this Tea on my own because I just wouldn’t but now that i was able to try it, it is not bad at all not too rosey/flowery but a very nice smooth flavor with a slight sweetness in the aftertaste, This one is prolly worth buying to have for company or something even, the little hearts are very tightly pressed and they expand into a good bit of leaves, 1st steep was not as dark as the next steep as usual but the following 3 steeps were very dark slighlty thick and very smooth by the 5th and 6th steep it was starting to look more like the first steep and i knew it was ending, I would recommend this one.

http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/2012/10/dark-rose-tea-by-teasource.html

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone (or Lupercalia if you are reading this from Ancient Rome) I hope your day is filled with love and happiness. Since today is all about hearts and romance…and quite frequently flowers, why not look at a thematically appropriate tea? I do love doing thematically appropriate reviews, though I doubt I will come up with a good one for President’s Day.

Sadly upon steeping the compressed tea it no longer looks like a cute little heart, but this is expected. The aroma has become quite rosy and malty with only a touch of loam and oak wood. It is beginning to smell more like a moist forest floor in summer than a dry one. The liquid without the leaves steeping in them have a bright quality with strong notes of rose and sweet malt. It smells heavy and rich, not at all light and buoyant.

The first steeping of the little heart shaped nugget of tea happiness is quite rich and filling. Drinking it makes my mouth feel smooth and full, it is a slightly odd sensation because it also has a sense of weight to it. The taste is at first rosy and sweet, but this fades to oak wood and a mild astringency. The taste reminds me more of a strong black tea than the dark teas I am used to.

Giving the crumbled heart another dunking causes the mild astringency to vanish and makes the already smooth tea even more so, almost making it feel velvety. It does lose the weighty feel and now is just a bright tea. There is only the barest hint of roses and the tea has a finish of copper. I really do think this tea would be great for people who are scared off of Pu Erhs and other dark teas by their earthy quality, but for people who love that aspect it is a bit of a let down.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/02/tea-source-dark-rose-tea-tea-review.html

So if you saw my previous cupping of the Dark Tea Rose sample from Zen Cha this is a bit of a follow up. I thought the shape and style of the compressed heart looked familiar and as it so happens I had a sample of this tea sent to me via TeaSource a while back. I remember thinking it somewhat novel, as the heart shape and ‘rose’ scent seemed to paint it into a perfect role for a Valentines day gift – so thinking it to be a pu erh – I didn’t bother to cup it as I was waiting for a time to gift it. After recieving the kindness of I Cheng in the form of a ‘dark tea’ sample, it jogged my memory and I found the sample in my tea cubby. I decided to go ahead and cup it again and found a few more details after sending an inquiry to the parent company in China.

First: Each tea heart weighs a bit different. I found the weight shift from 3.6g – 4.2g depending on the heart – a fine metaphor, but perhaps not the most equivocal cup. They also both had the YQY stamp on the tea heart – and I think this confirms origin.
The flavor was very consistent with my other cupping so I won’t draw it out.
Second: So concerning my correspondence with Yiqingyuan Tea Industry the details are as follows -
Hunan Dark tea, if some body say Hunan dark tea, actually is meaning Anhua dark tea, Anhua is a county of Hunan, Just Anhua dark tea is the most popular in China.
About Fu Cha is pile-fermented in Hunan, actually, the Fu Cha is just a type of Hunan dark tea, original place of dark tea is Anhua county of Hunan province, Dark tea has many types, such like Fu Cha/ Fu brick tea, Hei Brick tea, Hua Brick tea, Qing Brick tea, bamboo fu cha, qiang liang tea, bai liang tea, shi liang tea, dark rose tea, and grain dark tea, etc. so you said dark tea bricks, may it is fu brick ,or Hei brick, or qing brick, or Hun prick, but just Fu brick tea can grow golden flowers(also called Eurotium Cristatum)In Yunnan, there are two major types of Pu’er, Qing Pu’er and Shou or Sheng Puer. Shou Cha is pile fermented in Yunan.
Please have a check the attached information of Dark tea and Puerh tea, thanks very much!
If you have any other questions for Chinese teas, please just let me know, thanks!

Attached was also more technical information on the difference between Pu Erh’s and Dark Teas. The overall distinction is this:
Pu Erhs come as sheng and shou styles (shou being pile fermented and more akin to ‘dark tea’) and they all come from the Yunnan region.
Dark Teas hail from the Anhui region of China and are pile fermented and pine-wood fire cured (like Lapsang souchong and Bohea)
Both have pro biotic properties due to pile fermentation and have other potential attributes to diuretic and digestive health and are consumed with that consideration.
I always find it interesting to find new frontiers of tea and I hope you find this curious and interesting.

I didn’t get the aroma of rose at all – not in the dried leaves, brewed leaves, or the tea itself. This just tasted like a straight pu’erh tea. I got a floral note as I swallowed but no more than any other non-flavored tea.
I’m not really a fan of pu’erh. The smokey/horsey quality was less intense than in the other pu’erhs I’ve tried.
It’s just not my thing and it left my mouth very dry

From Tiffany a while ago, thanks very much!  I think a few shops carry this cute heart shaped tea, but I don’t think I have had it from TeaSource yet.  It’s fairly small, so I’m hoping there is enough here for me to get a full flavor for my tastebuds.  The rose is definitely there — it’s sweet, yet a BIT perfumey.  Reminds me a little of cherry flavoring. I can’t taste much of the base at all.  I went into this thinking it was puerh, then realized it’s a DARK tea.  The second steep lets more of the base seep through, while the rose also changes from sweet/cherry to more of a perfume.  The base definitely has a flavor that isn’t quite puerh and isn’t quite black tea.  I think I have only had ONE dark tea in the past, so this is interesting!  The third steep, the rose has faded a bit. I’d say the flavor of the dark tea and rose does pair nicely with the dark tea. But then the rose makes it tough to distinguish flavor notes from the dark tea. Once the leaves are unraveled, there is a good amount of leaf in the infuser —  more than I expected from this tiny heart!  
Steep #1 // 15 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 3 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 5-6 min

I don’t like rose, so I didn’t expect to like this, but with milk and sugar, it actually is pretty good. There’s a gentle rose flavor along with a mild base tea. Really, it tastes like a million other lattes I’ve had before, so I can’t complain. I wouldn’t seek it out, but the cute little hearts were fun to try from a recent tea box!

May Flowers! I think this is the only heicha in my collection, but I really enjoy this tea. It has such a deep, rich flavor, with a strong rose floral note that adds a touch of sweetness that keeps it from having the sort of bitterness that a black tea of that kind of rich depth might have otherwise. I get some nice notes of malt and dark cocoa from the base, with a very strong top note of sweet floral rose. The finish has some slight drying astringency, but the taste of rose is left on the tongue, and overall, I find it very refreshing and pleasant. I enjoy this tea both warm and iced; the black tea and rose floral notes compliment each other nicely. I especially enjoy this tea as an afternoon cuppa.

This one is from Sil, who got it from Stephanie, who apparently got it from TeaNecromancer.

What a journey.

I rinsed, and am steeping one heart for a while in my usual mug. It kinda smells like just a floral black tea. Tastes kinda like a floral black tea. Has the puerh been sitting too long? IDK. There’s no funk. Just a little astringency.

Not bad, but not really my ahem cup of tea.

ALSO, I forgot to mention this. I made a gluten free bread dough that’s actually OK. I have calzones in the oven. CALZONES. SO EXCITE.

I bought this tea a few years ago, and mostly forgot about it. At the time, I had a pretty narrow idea about what tea is “supposed” to taste like, and this didn’t fit.

Now that my perspective has changed, I dug it out again. I’m glad I did.

1 cute little pressed heart in my 120mL gaiwan, with boiling water. 5 sec rinse, then started infusing at 5s.

The result is sweet, floral, and smooth. No discernible bitterness. The rose mostly comes through in the scent and the aftertaste.

this one came my way stephanie via terri. I was a little hesitant about drinking this one. Flowers and i don’t really get along….esp not rose. That being said, once this one is brewed, it’s much more tea than rose. Still though, not something i really need in my life, though i’m always happy to try out random teas haha :) thanks ladies!!