Perfectly Pear White Tea

You have got to be kidding me. The box has more taste. (Yes — I tried. I was desperate.) However, my Mom really enjoys it, so that’s why it has as high a rating as it does. I’m not into white tea, but people who are (like my Mom) may find this refreshing. Personally, I can’t find the point.

Given the many negative reviews, I was afraid that reading them before drinking the tea was going to make me less likely to enjoy it. Well, while I don’t find the tea overly spectacular, I think it’s pleasantly drinkable. I wasn’t expected to be blown away from a CS bagged tea. CS is, for me personally, more of a comforting nostalgic brand. It was the brand that really got me interested in tea and I’ll admit that the cover art still charms me.

On to the flavor… there’s definitely a white tea taste here. It’s not the subtle, higher grade of white tea. They use white peony. I actually prefer the lower grades because I find they have more flavor. I’m not the type of person that gets overly excited on subtleties, so this base works well for me. The pear flavor isn’t really in the taste (as is so often the case with flavored teas), but rather in the scent alongside a vanilla aroma.

Not awful, yet not exciting, but drinkable and enjoyable in a pinch.

This tea has to be steeped “perfectly” for it to taste good and not bitter. First time I had this tea it was bitter but that’s because I used boiling/near boiling water. Here’s how to make the perfect cup:
I guessed on the water temperature scale (I don’t have a thermometer) but basically I boiled the water and then let it sit for several minutes (5-8) and then poured it over the tea bag in my mug. I timed the steep for exactly one minute.

The pear flavour isn’t overly fruity/sweet but you can definitely taste it.
The great thing about this tea is that it is the fastest steep of all my teas, it’s low on caffeine but a great ‘pick me up’ for the a.m., and using a lower water temp. meant that I didn’t have to wait for it to cool before drinking.

So don’t let the low Steepster rating talk you out of trying this tea. I purchased it on sale at the local health food store for $1.80 CDN – *TIP: watch for clearance sales on teas that only have a month or two before the expiry date. It’s a cheaper way to try new flavours.

I really wanted to love this tea. The pear aroma is incredibly cloying and intoxicating, but unfortunately, if you let the tea steep for longer than a minute, it becomes incredibly bitter.

For someone like me, who lets the tea steep infinitely long, this is a huge drawback. Also, I’m quite suspicious of the white tea hype in general, and this has proved to be once again disappointing.

I love pears and this tea is absolutely the best pear flavor tea ever.

Most people who think this tea is too bitter or not good at all brew this tea with too hot water. (Trust me I’ve been drinking tea over 29 years ever since I was in my mom’s belly-I’m from Korea)

You really need to brew this with low temperature water.

1 tea bag / 300ml (about 10oz, 1 1/4 C) water : 160 F or 70 C/ 2 min 30 sec

I’ve been drinking this tea for years and am too sad that Celestial Seasonings stopped making this tea. It’s one of my favorite flavored teas ever.

If you still have some tea bags, try with what I suggested. It’s really sweet and mellow. Even my husband(who thinks every tea has the same taste which is leaf flavor) loves tea. Actually it’s his favorite and only tea he drinks.

I followed Tea4Me’s instructions and steeped for just one minute. It has a light, delicate flavor that doesn’t need much sugar. I could taste both the pear and the vanilla. I’m going to be enjoying this very much this spring. =)

It says on the box not to get the water to boiling and to only steep for 2 minutes. Surely the only reason this tea is being rated as bitter is because it’s being steeped too long. I’m used to steeping my teas for more than five minutes, so I wasn’t expecting much with only a minute, but it really is enough time. The tea isn’t meant to be strong anyway.

As much as I would love a pear tea, I’ve found the vanilla in this tea to be overpowering, masking much of the pear tea. I tasted only a slight hint of pear. I will continue my quest for a pear tea with a stronger pear taste.

I’m a huge fan of white tea. I am not a huge fan of Celestial Seasonings. I should have known better, but the idea of pear white tea (now that Republic of Tea no longer has one) was irresistible. Like most, I was disappointed. White tea has to be steeped in a different way, but this still didn’t make a great cup. The pear flavor was too subtle and it seems they tried to compensate for that with vanilla. Vanilla overpowers the pear and isn’t terribly strong itself.

The idea was a good one, but is hardly perfect. I’d like to see a redone version with more pear, no vanilla, and higher quality tea leaves. You usually get what you pay for. $2 tea is still $2 tea. Anyone who had a bitter cup, make sure you use less than boiling water and only steep for a minute or two. Better white teas will still be good if you steep them longer, but this one gets quite bitter.

This purchase was solely for the art on the box. I had a Siamese cat , and the drawing was just perfect, cat and tea! I bought this when I don’t know jack squat about tea. It was so gross, I didn’t drink white tea for years from my experience with this tea. I just remember this tea being sour pear. I swore off Celestial Seasonings even! Though they won me back with Island Mate Spice, then they broke my heart again to take it off the market.

I am not a fan…just a couple points off from 0 since the cover art is cute!

This is a nice tea. When I opened the fresh box, I really liked the pear scent & flavor and the vanilla didn’t take over the tea. Now that the box is about three weeks old, the scent and flavor have changed considerably. The vanilla scent is much too strong and the flavor is too unbalanced to enjoy. Since I throw my “boxed” teas separated in air-tight canisters (learned that the hard way!), I don’t see how the pear could have dissipated to this point in 3 weeks.
When new I kept the steep time down to about a minute or so and the light pear flavor came through well. I agree that the vanilla was not always a good addition, based on what I was eating at the same time. I use “getting close to boiling” water, around 195 to 200F.
I don’t know that I’d purchase it again since the flavors were good only for the first week or so after the box was opened.