Organic Dehydrated Camellia

New Samples from TeaVivre! Woot! Not going to rate this until I get to fix it without the microwave. I quickly looked at the picture and thought what came out of the bag would be hard like nuts. Nope. It’s real soft. I steeped with below boiling water for maybe three minutes. The resulting brew is pretty clear. It has a little bit of honey color but not much. I’m wondering will this have any flavor? But of course. The website says it has a persimmon aftertaste. I was expecting closer to chamomile. It does not taste like our persimmons and definitely not chamomile. What I got is something very similar to white tea. Subtle but deep. Even prepared poorly I like this. If I were to rate it I would say mid to high 80’s. Don’t fear the Herbal. Need more cowbell?

Backlog:

I really enjoyed this offering from Teavivre. I loved the pollen-y quality to it. I find myself wondering how drinking something like this will help reduce seasonal allergies … but probably not so much unless one happens to be surrounded by tea plants since it is camellia sinensis. This time of year is hell on me with my allergies. Fortunately, they have gotten considerably better after a couple of years of consuming quite a bit of locally harvested raw honey. Still have the allergies, but they aren’t nearly as severe.

Anyway, back to the tea. Or tisane. I enjoyed this. I brewed it a bit strong but I’m glad I did, because I really enjoyed it the way it was brewed. Sweet, honey-esque and floral. Pleasant. I like!

My full-length review is here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/02/01/organic-dehydrated-camellia-from-teavivre/

Oh boy did I have too much caffeine today! 4-5 large cups of black tea. Last sip at around 5pm. I am still feeling shaky. Why didn’t someone stop me! So what to drink tonight? Thankfully, Angel sent me a sample of this lovely herbal! I’m always up for caffeine free stuff! But what the heck is a camellia anyway? Camellia sinensis is the tea plant, so is this tea its flowers?
Wikipedia to the rescue!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camellia
I can’t believe I used to go to the library to use Encyclopedias and books to do research.
So from what I gather, this may not necessarily be the flower of Camellia Sinensis but any of genus Camellia’s many species. In any case, it’s a beautiful flower.

The dried buds are light as feathers and smelled like sun dried hay and honey. The brew is sweet and reminds me of chrysanthemum, but less herby. I actually like this a whole lot. I can see the dried persimmon after taste Teavivre is describing here. Nice.

Now let’s hope this helps me push the caffeine out of my system so that I can sleep tonight. :(

What is a Camellia? Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. – Thank you Wikipedia. :)

I ordered this tea thinking Camellia may be similar to Chamomile even though I am not a fan of Chamomile but wanted the chance to try something new. The flowers look similar, they are mostly small whole yellow flowers with virtually no fragrance. The quality looks very nice and fresh.

Brewed with the given instructions this tea forms a honeyed yellow colour that has a slight toasty and floral scent.

I’m completely surprised by the flavour…I thought it would be overpoweringly floral and perfumey but it’s nothing of the sort. Instead this tea tastes toasty and sweet, similar to an Oolong but not as strong. It does pick up in flavour the more you drink and starts to remind me of genmaicha but less thick and ricey.

Overall I am finding myself liking it more and more. I can’t believe this doesn’t have any reviews yet! A wonderful in-between tea drink that will cleanse the pallet nicely.

This was very different than I was expecting. I thought it would be a little sweeter, and more like chamomile. I see in the description, that they mention persimmon and I definitely get that. I like this, but not enough to order it.

Honestly, I thought this was chamomile when I asked for this sample. So I didn’t quite know what to expect once I realized it wasn’t. The dry pieces smell like sweet, toasted rice. There’s something else, too, that I can’t quite describe. I assume it’s the persimmon identified in the Teavivre description, since I’ve never actually had persimmon.

This tisane brews up a nice, lemony yellow. And the taste is fantastic! Nothing at all like chamomile, for sure. Closer to sencha. Toasted rice, sweetness, a touch of corn… and again that something else that I can’t articulate. I think the lesson here is that I need to hit my local Chinese market and try some persimmon!

This is a nice sleepy-time tea.

Water: I boiled 8oz water & let it cool slightly

Leaves: mini yellow-ish brown flower buds

Steep: 3 minutes

Aroma: floral

Color: pale yellow almost clear

Taste: I made this tea the same day as the blooming tea,I had no luck with this one either it was tasteless as well. Maybe I should have let it brew longer time I’m going to give it another go. I’ve been having difficulty writing reviews b/c I haven’t been getting much taste from my teas.

Second Tea Log

This time when I made this tea I mixed it with green tea the a second batch with white.It was better from when i first tried it.My first time blending teas together.

Hmm. Maybe I brewed this incorrectly but it was so, so flowery and flat for me. I will try it again, but I’m really sad because this is the only tea I haven’t liked so far from Tea Vivre.

mmmm enjoying this beautiful weather outside in the sun with a pot full of flowers. These small little flowers look a lot like a cross between chamomile and chrysanthemum. They carry a dry hay scent and brew into something unique. The flavor is like persimmon, honey and dry grass. The liquor is a golden brass. This is perfect for this kind of day!

https://instagram.com/p/2ObYzZTGaZ/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

These beautiful camellia flowers brew a rather tangy tisane. It reminds me of orange blossoms, but without the bitter intense qualities of those. There are definite notes of hay. The overall flavor is a rather earthy one that is not unlike some white teas I’ve had. It reminds me particularly of a brick-aged white tea I’ve had from Shang Tea.

There’s not a lot to say because this flavor seems unique and I don’t have a great point of comparison. I could see it tasting somewhat persimmon like, as others had said. This is one of those you really have to try yourself!