French Breakfast

For the sipdown prompt, “a breakfast tea.”

I purchased this on the last vacation I took, which was to Portland in 2019 (so long ago… sigh…) The tea smelled amazing in the shop, and as I really like lavender, I decided to take a bag of this home.

It’s quite disappointing, though. The base is really strong and I haven’t figured out a way to prepare it yet where it doesn’t turn unpleasantly astringent. And while I like the clementine oil used to flavor the tea, which creates a really sharp, tangy, and authentic orange taste, it completely dominates the cup. I don’t taste the vanilla or honey flavoring at all, nor the lavender.

I like it a little better as a coldbrew than the warm cup I had, since I find the strong clementine flavor on the brisk base makes a pretty good iced tea, and a subtle floral note pops out toward the end of the sip… but it still comes out a bit astringent-tasting. Next time, I’ll add a generous dollop of honey to the iced tea mason jar.

If the balance between all the elements were better, I’d probably be more impressed. As is, rather disappointing and not a tea I’ll miss once I work through the pouch.

Sipdown.

I added more leaf and increased the steeping time a bit, since last time this was somewhat bland for me.

Well, the flavor is stronger, but I actually like it less because the lavender is really popping out. Not being a fan of lavender, it’s not for me.

Removing the rating since I feel a bit biased here…

This tea smells like wet dog. And while I’ve never licked a wet dog, I’m going to go ahead and leap to the conclusion that this is also what wet dog tastes like. No thanks.