Bountea Hunter

Hmm…

This blend was pretty weird, and I’m still not totally sure if it was the good kind of weird or the bad kind. Basically the flavour is a mix of pistachio and orange on a very thick, earthy shou pu’erh base. I quite enjoyed the flavours as individual parts of a whole. The pistachio was super buttery and less sweet than a lot of pistachio teas. Very familiar, too. I’m almost 100% certain I’ve had the exact same pistachio/shou pu’erh combination in other teas from the same supplier Trader Nick’s uses. The orange was also nice. Bright and just a bit juicy, with just a really fresh kind of feeling to it.

I think the weird comes in with how this super lively and sweet citrus flavour was interacting with an otherwise very dense, heavy kind of tea. They aren’t really on the same wavelength at all. On one end you have a profile that feels very cooked and heavy with an underlying umami/savory quality. The other end is liquid sunshine. And there’s nothing to bridge the MASSIVE GAP between the two. Like, I don’t want buttery oranges? Except, sometimes maybe I do if it’s in the context of like a shortbread or biscotti. But you need other flavours to be present in order to connect those dots…

I like this blend, please don’t get me wrong. It’s nice but I don’t get pistachio orange cookie from it. I think the pu-erh base and the Dragon pearls take over, the citrus note is only noticeable in the scent that wafts off the cup but the pistachio note is vaguely there. That being said, it’s a nice cuppa to wind down with. Would I get it again? I’m not sure. Will I finish the bag? Yes, absolutely!