Black Dragon Pearl

Oh look, black dragon pearl is finally back at Teavana!!
Of course, I have to add it back into my collection, as theirs was the first black pearl I ever had, and loved. After yesterday’s gig, I gave myself permission to go to Teavana & get some.
I really liked Teavana when they first opened. Now they are just too intense on the salesmanship. Someone immediately attached herself to me, leading me around the store, pouring samples, pointing things out, spouting her knowledge, & depositing me at the counter with the overly smiley lady, where I asked for 4 oz of dragon pearls.
She intentionally over scooped, & then nonchalantly asked, “is 6 oz ok?”
“No”
She fixed it. I also got a couple oz of the peach one I like, & she did the exact same thing.
On the way out of the store some chick was giving a demo about their current special: but a cast iron teapot & you get a bunch of free tea. She tried to pull me in, “I already have 2”, I said, making for the door…I escaped!

So I tested the guy helping me out at Teavana yesterday as I asked for this tea. I asked about the flavor of this tea waiting to see if he’d mention the chocolate and malty notes…no he told me there was nothing to this tea as it was a straight black tea…um WHAT? Of course he then offered me the Golden Monkey starting at $18.50 per two ounces…because that’s the one that had the coco flavors I was thinking of.

Yes it does (I’ve had it to go – because I like being married and the price is WAY to high) have chocolate/coco notes. But the Black Dragon Pearl does too. I’d say it even has MORE. Anyway this was my all day tea today. In fact I got close to 5 steeps out of 5 pearls! I was impressed to say the least. This is a favorite of mine, but I think I need to look into getting it a little cheaper in the future. Sure I’ll get a lot of steeps out of it but there has to be another place to get something similar. Help me Steepsterites you are my only hope! :)

SIPDOWN! and backlog – another from yesterday. This one was not only packed in a travel mug for the drive home but i also shared a few of the steeps and re-steeps with my parents before i left. This is something i should have as a permanent fixture in my cupboard, or some variation of. I really like the chocolatey/malty taste of this one AND a little really does go a long way. Really appreciate the share tattooed_tea

Asked for tea for Christmas; my mother and her posse happened to walk into a Teavana store in Chicago (Lady’s “Lets Go Shopping” roadtrip). After a hour’s guided tour through the intracies of tea (which mom reports was a pleasure), their guide picked out three “must try” teas, this was one of them; Thanks Mom! (and Teavana guy).
I used too much in my first cup….I have a 16 oz mug and used 3 pearls, 2 would have been fine. Water was off the boil for 5 minutes or so. I brewed this loose, directly in my mug for about 4 minutes, but it took a minute before the pearls actually started to unravel and steep. From there it steeped fast! I decanted it into another cup, ditched the leaves and returned the brew to the warm mug.
It has a strong, bold flavor with no astringency. Slightly woody and an edge of “burnt” in the flavor…perhaps from oversteeping. Still, very tasty and I look forward to another cup, and another shot at getting the steep correct.

Thank you LiberTEAS for the 6 delicious pearls of wonder that I am enjoying this morning!

Wow, I can see why this tea is a favourite to many – it’s so smooth and the quality is definitely there. The smell is sweet with hints of cocoa and the taste is indeed smooth-bodied, a perfect amount of malt and a bit drying. I’m getting no aftertaste after the sip, but this is just the first steep so I’ll have to see what happens on the next.

This tea was really the perfect way to start my day – and after my sample is finished I think i will be seeking out a Black Dragon Pearl to add to my collection. This tea warms me to the bone with it’s gentle chocolate-malty tones, without kicking me in the face with astringency.

Ah I’ve got it! Similar to the way the pearl itself unfurls, this tea is gently waking up my senses. Sometimes that is preferable to a kick in the butt morning assam – especially this Lazy Sunday.

And now for steep #2, with a pinch of sugar!

Thank you, thank you, Purrfect Cup! My package arrived today with so many goodies!

I found myself getting another biopsy today unexpectedly and now comes the long wait for the results. (it is probably nothing this time, but why around the holidays??)

I wanted a tea treat and I just knew this would be one. It is! The rich, chocolate-y aroma is reminiscent of Emperor’s Red by Premium Steap. My youngest daughter was astounded when she smelled it. This is smooth and sweet, has nice body, and is a bit like a chocolate Golden Monkey. I will be near a Teavana tomorrow, and this may be coming home with me to be put in my stocking!

I cannot get over how delicious this tea is. This being my third pot in the last twelve hours, I think it is finally time to give it a rating. I am honestly surprised, as I never seem to rate any black tea, other than pu’erh, this high.

Just bought this stuff from the Woodfield Mall Teavana. They have a whole new staff and boy are they pushy. Girl at the front had samples and asked if I wanted any. I said “No thanks” and she gave me a nasty confused look as if she couldn’t understand why I would walk into a store and not want a sample. She then assumed I must have known what I wanted to purchase so that must be the reason why I said “No” to her. I told her I didn’t know what I wanted and that I was going to check out what they had. The confusion continued. She then left me alone to have another guy come uncomfortably close to me and asked if I knew what I was looking for and what I was more into. When I got him away from me and behind the counter things started to get better. However, he kept trying to sell me more than I wanted. Sort of like assuming the sale buy saying “I will get these bagged for you”. I told him I wasn’t sure what I wanted yet but I would let him know. I kept telling him I am familiar with tea but I think the sale tactic is to treat everyone as a newbie to tea. I suppose that works a lot but I think they should back off when they are dealing with someone not so new to tea. So anyway, I bought this one and it is pretty good. Here you go…
It is smooth and a bit sweet but not in the conventional sweet way. It is on the back end and a little earthy. Overall not bad but not great. I think I want to make it stronger next time.

This has been the only good part of my morning so far..

I am trying to sip down some of my teas before ordering new ones, but that hasn’t exactly been working out, as I have definitely not slowed down on ordering in the meantime. I only have enough of this to make another pot or two, but maybe I will just wind up sending it off to someone…

This is probably my favorite Teavana tea ever. It’s malty and chocolatey, earthy and sweet, and quite robust without being astringent, if that makes sense…Also, I did brew this probably too strongly last night, but that was what I was in the mood for!