Rosé Royal

Rose always reminds me of Valentine’s Day so I tried to stick to V-Day inspired teas today. This one is really yummy and I’m almost out of it, unfortunately. It has kind of an almost champagne taste to it along with the rose it is also somewhat fruity.

Homemade advent day 11

I’ve never had this blend before but I really enjoyed it. I went into the cup not knowing what type of tea it was other than that it smelled fruity and looked like a black tea.

It reminds me of a muscat tea I once had from Lupicia. Wine/grape flavours, fruity notes, and something I thought was mango and strawberry. Mostly the mango, though. I was almost fooled into wondering if this was an oolong because the wine flavour made me think of a fruity and floral jade oolong. If you have ever had the mango oolong, momo supreme, or muscat oolong you will probably enjoy this blend. I would describe it as mostly fruity with some ripe fruit notes, hints of grape/wine and mango, and a flavourful but smooth base. No bitterness or sour tannicity here!

One of 3 free Lupicia samples. Sounded interesting “Black tea blend scented with strawberries and sparkling wine.” This one had more body than the other Lupicia I’ve tried, more flavor. The tea bag smelled really good, I can smell the fruit, not too much of the rose at this point. The liquor was a medium-dark amber and it was a little astringent (pleasantly), and very smooth and warm mouth and throat feel. It has a lasting finish.
I liked the base, the muscatel and strawberry notes, but there was a quite a bit of rose in it for my tastes. Did it knock it out of balance? I don’t think so. I think it is more just my aversion to a strong rose flavor. I can handle a little, but not a lot.
One thing though, the aroma of the rose was pleasant and quite “perfumey” but in a fresh rose garden kind of way… And in no way, shape or form did it smell like the cheap rose perfume some people wear (if you wear that type, sorry lol). Other than the strong rose, it was a very nice cup of tea and good 2nd and 3rd steep.

Recommended for those who don’t mind rose.

Sachet in 130 ml, boiling water for 3 steeps 2.5m, 3m, 3.5m.

Home – 1:00 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 19

Yay, I’m under 20 teas remaining! :D

It’s interesting to me that Lupicia seems to be rather obsessed with wine-flavored teas. They must half a dozen different ones that I can think of off the top of my head, in addition to a few more muscat or grape-flavored ones. It’s very unusual.

Anyway, this one is a strawberry and sparkling wine flavored black tea. I adore the big sugar crystals that they’ve added, they remind me of quartz and are so pretty. I don’t generally approve of tea with added sweeteners, but honestly I don’t taste the sugar at all in the steeped tea. I think they’re too big and hard to really dissolve much.

This is definitely an Indian black tea base. It’s got some bitterness and astringency using my usual steep parameters. I feel there’s possibly some Darjeeling in here, and I did see some green among the spent leaves.

It’s definitely got some muscatel notes, which does make it seem wine-ish. It’s a bit sparkling on the tongue. The strawberry is definitely candy-like. There’s also quite a bit of floral presence, and it’s too much for me.

This will definitely be one to pass along, as it does end up quite floral and the muscatel notes only accent that even more. It becomes almost perfumey to me.

I was going to use this for “a floral tea” on the scavenger hunt this month, but after drinking it again, I realize it doesn’t taste like rose at all (there are some rose petals in the blend, but they appear to be decorative rather than a flavor element). Then I realized this is “Rosé Royal” and not “Rose Royal”… I’d left the accent off my spreadsheet and assumed it was a rose tea from the name, hahaha. So instead I’m using this as “a tea that makes you happy” because it definitely fits for that!

I’m actually really sad this is one of the teas that never made it over to the selection when Lupicia moved from California to Hawaii, because I really like this one and am going to miss it! I can’t drink alcohol at all due to my chronic migraine condition, so I love teas that have a sort of alcohol flavor to them. This one has a dry/effervescent alcohol taste, a bit like a champagne or white wine, with a really sweet strawberry fruitiness. I’ve only had it hot in the past, but decided to ice this batch and am finding it’s very smooth that way, with some of the astrigency I remembered from the base mellowed out in the cold tea, but still with that lovely fruity strawberry/dry alcohol taste. Very refreshing!

This came as this months sample…appropriate considering Valentine’s day.

I can count on 1 hand the number of times I’ve drunk wine, the times I’ve had it, didn’t like any of it. I do however, enjoy many teas that have a wine like flavor, though have tended to get tired of them somewhat quick. This tea, while I’ve enjoyed the cup, I highly doubt I would be inclined to buy more…I mean having more samples around would be terrific, but sadly Lupicia isn’t interested in selling their samples.

Tastes: Strawberry, hint of grape, and a brief aftertaste of wine.

I enjoy the sweet fruity flavors but didn’t get the rose I was looking for. I like to brew it with rose hips and it is a delight. It is an especially pretty tea to brew if that is something you care about.

This was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting more earthy and rose flavors but instead was bombarded by fruit and rose. Both in scent and in taste. The fruity essence is quite a bit more then expected.

I’ve brewed this a few times since it came in the mail, but haven’t written a proper review yet. Maybe my expectations were too high due to the description (and how long it’s been on my wishlist), and there just isn’t much to say. It’s a nice flavored black tea, though a little too sweet—I can see pink sugar crystals in the mix before steeping. The base is decent and smooth, as is always the case with Lupicia. Not really extraordinary, but not bad either.

At this point, I’ve tried enough of their repertoire to know which teas are my favorites, so I won’t need to do as much hit-or-miss exploration. And summer means more barley teas!

Thanks for this one, Ost! A lovely tea. Delicious black tea base with plenty of champagne and strawberry flavors, both in equal measure. The strawberry flavor is actually leaning a bit to the strawberry candy type (rather than fresh), but I don’t mind it. Definitely an accurate description of this tea! I tend to really like Lupicia blends that I’ve tried.