Garden Aria White Tea

This time the tea steeped to a nice pink-orange color, unlike last time, when it looked like diluted orange juice. It was very pretty, so I wanted to share it with you. You can also play Where’s Waldo with my post-it-note stack…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4414877545/

This time around, I guess I got more cherry in my infuser because it wasn’t as gentle as last time. It had a warm cough syrup flavor to it, whereas last time it tasted like wonderful, light, fruity heaven. So from now on I need to be careful how much of a specific kind of fruit I get in each cup. I’ll shake the bag up better next time.

I’m not going to lower my rating, because I know that this tea is capable of being very good.

A question to Teavana enthusiasts: When Teavana puts a tea on their website for 50% off, does that mean they are discontinuing it? Because I love this stuff, and if it’s being discontinued I want to buy a big bag while I still can!

I’m prefacing this by saying this might not actually be Garden Aria. I got this from my best friend Irina a few weeks ago, but it wasn’t labeled and she couldn’t remember what it was. She just knew it was a Teavana tea. I didn’t want to drink it til I had it identifying it for fear of placing the tasting note on the wrong tea, but yesterday was her birthday so I thought I’d try it. (Couldn’t yesterday as I had a cavity filled.)

It has long, slender, almost twig or needle shaped leaves (wirey, not smooth and sleek like silver or emerald needle) that are white and greenish in color mixed in w/ the strawberry- although there appears to be something else here as well… kinda orangish. It definitely smells like a red fruit flavored tea. I can’t smell the tea base at all.

2.25g/6oz water. The liquor is very light, almost like a more peachy version of a White Zin.

The aroma is faint, but sweet- mostly fruity, but a hint of tea. The flavor is exactly what you’d expect from the aroma and liquor. Light and fruity… although now there’s an additional peach flavor peeking thru.

Not my personal cuppa, but I can see where a person that loves fruit flavored whites would love this. Could be amazing iced. Will hold off on the rating until I have it positively identified.

Enjoying this second sample of tea from AmazonV. This is lighter in taste than other fruit blends Teavana has. I like it this way though, white tea is so soft as it is, it would lose all appearance in a tea flavored much more than this. This is a beautiful tea to drink, light pink/peach in color. I will have to try it iced, see if it brings out more berry flavor. Sweetened as well.

Trying this iced~! So of course this was the last song on my painting playlist. =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgNEDbiHqF4

Something Cool by Jennifer Zarine from Fresh Made Cuppa Tea

I actually was listening to June Christy’s version but this came up when I searched for a matching video. I think Zarine’s got better pacing and music but Christy’s voice is unbeatable.

I Tbsp leaf, 1 Tbsp raw honey, 1/4 tsp hibiscus, and eight rosehips
12 0z for five hours.
Ooh, this is a bit better iced. I didn’t add any Bai Mu to give tea a chance to peek out from under the mountain of strawberries and flowers but the poor leaves remained entombed. Ah, well. Still a nice, refreshing rise in blood sugar before dinner.

wow i feel like i havent been on in forever :( it makes me sad. school has taken over and shot my internet useage down alot due to alot of studieing. i missed everyone! and have tried SOOOO many teas! because i cant remember them all im starting with this one as i am drinking it now :D

the scent is VERY fruity, you can pick up the strawberry right away and something tangier im thinking its the cherry. if this didnt have the white tea as the base i dont think id like it as much because even though theres alot of fruity bits in there you can still taste the delicate flavor of the white tea. its a very pretty pink color something id want to use a clear cup/mug with to show it off. the re-steep isnt as fruity but sweeter (same temp H2O 4 min steep)

im glad i got this, i had gotten a gift card from a good friend who loves tea as much if not more than me :) so i went a bit crazy lolzz and this tin was packed full and 50% off (originally 36$ got it for 18$) so i hope i can keep up on here like i was b4 now that ive gotten the hang of my classes.

Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 2 zarafina c
Tool: Zarafina white-loose-medium
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Sweet, fruity, berry
Steeped Tea Smell: Smells like leaves and fruit, papya maybe, sweet
Flavor: sweet, berry, tart, bitter
Body: Light
Aftertaste: bitter
Liquor: Translucent orange

I think this is being discontinued as I got it on 50% off sale, no return stamped from Teavana.

I saw such positive reviews on Steepster I decided to try it.

I think I should have chosen mild not medium.

Post-Steep Additives: German rock sugar, sweeter but still bitter.

Resteep: same as the first.

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/teavana-loose-leaf-white-tea-garden.html

At the end of this rambling, there will be a tea note. Skip past the stars if you want to ignore said rambling.
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So when I was first introduced to tea, it was World Market’s brand of bagged teas. I loved jasmine as my first ever non-Red Diamond or Brisk tea. It led me to explore many more teas of the herbal variety and finally, after about a year in college, my sister introduced me to Teavana. My opinions about the company are for some discussion thread somewhere else, as teas go, they were my first experience with loose leaf tea and brewing a tea based on temperature and steep time instead of, “Just stick the bag in some boiling water until the water turns dark.”

Its taken a lot of years of practice, tasting, drinking and exploring to just get to know the difference between what I like and what I don’t like.

And that is where Garden Aria comes in.

While its not a straight white tea such as silver needle, it is very delicate. It was also the first white tea I ever bought.

Sadly, I bought this when it went on its 50% sale of retirement about a year ago. I still have about 1/2 of my tin left, but when it goes, I shall be a very sad panda.
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I really recommend being careful with your water temperature when brewing this one because it has a temperament to it. I love the taste of it sweetened or not, but generally, I prefer it with a sweetener. This morning I used honey. Plain ol’ in the bear-shaped bottle honey.

When you first sip this tea, it comes to the tongue with a warm tartness. I can taste the raspberry and cherry notes, but the white comes through very well. I know there is some strawberry in here, but the raspberry really is stronger.

It was my morning tea today, and since I had to work, I made a 2-cup travel cup AND 2 cups to put in my briefcase thermos. (I really love these things. Its a Thermos brand I got on sale at Target ages ago and it perfectly keeps my tea hot. When I have finished what’s in the travel mug, I can just refill it! Huzzah for a quart of tea!) When my day was getting annoying or stressful, I’d zip back to the back of the store and get a mouthful of happiness.

If anyone has tried this before, can you suggest anything similar to it? I’ve probably got at least 24 to 20 more cups left in the tin, but since I usually brew 4 cups at a time…well. Replacements are going to be searched for soon!

The colour of the brew is a pale pink rather than the really strong red of some fruit teas, and this is a clue to the sort of flavour you get from this tea. The strawberry dominates the other fruits but also doesn’t overwhelm the tea. This is a really nice light fruity white tea, a good one to keep drinking throughout the day.

Light and sweet, not overly fruity, pretty decent.

I really love this tea. It’s naturally sweet and the fruit balances nicely with the white tea. It makes a delicate cup with a lot of aroma. Really, really nice.