ChaMei

Serendipity comes in the form of Lemon Dreams as I am looking for a honeybush to soothe my sore throat, maybe with chamomile to help me sleep. The company’s description is spot on in that it’s not overly floral but still that magic touch of apple/hay from chamomile. The lemon is lighter than the dry tea smell suggests so I don’t consider this a dessert tea but very enjoyable. I guess I can throw chamomile and honeybush together but my experience tells me it’s never just like a professionally blended tea. I really like it but wouldn’t rate it super high score just to give perspective to my favorites such as Earl Grey Cheesecake – for an every day tea when I want a chamomile, this scores ten out of ten.

I love the fragrance of the steeped tea which reminds me of a lemon creme biscuit. I recommend steep time of 2 min or less; the temperature can be as high as 185 but I feel shorter steep keeps the tea from turning bitter.

I am a fan of Genmaicha and this iteration with chocolate notes is amazing. The subtle chocolate is not a milky flavor; instead it has a roasted cacao nib flavor that pairs well with the toasted rice. Of course, the Firefly reference gives it a unique space cowboy coolness.

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I love the creamy lemon flavor from this tea especially coming from a black tea base. Most teas pair lemon myrtle with the lighter greens and white teas. There was a slight bitterness/astringency- more than my palate prefers so I will adjust steep time to 3 min. Sometimes those 15 to 30 sec make all the difference.

Light on the fruit in a good way. Nice alternative to heavily scented flavored tea. I really like the light touch of ginger that let’s me know it’s there but doesn’t dominate the tea.

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Tonight I wanted to smell this tea more than getting that brisk get-up and go, so only steeped a scant 3 min. I have found it can easily go 4 to 5 min with no ruinous bitterness. This tea makes me happy. If you can handle the caffeine in black tea in the evening, the sweet yet completely sugar-free flavor will float you away on creamy, cakey aromas. A great way to satisfy late night sweet tooth cravings and the perfumy bergamot soothes me in its constancy. It is nice to have a go-to tea.

Nothing more to add other than I liked it with milk this time.

The tea is background to the brightness of orange peel and crisp/dryness of grapefruit peel. If you don’t like strong bergamot, you most likely won’t like the strong citrus flavours, but hey never say never. I think this is interesting enough to try a sample. I would pair this with a fish course, maybe even raw fish like tuna sashimi. Any ideas how to infuse tea into a sauce ( say, a mushroom sauce)?

Happy dance. Forgot to taste this for a while. So fragrant! For my second cup, added Numi Aged Earl Grey tea bag to emphasize the bergamot. This tea makes me re-evaluate the number of EG- related blends I already have and is staving my urge to jump in for a pound of Samovar’s blend. If I like it, I can always find another sale. I must have at least a year supply of EG and that’s not counting the more perishable whites and greens. Message to myself: DO NOT BUY MORE THAN THE MINIMUM. DO NOT WASTE $$ ON SALES FOR TEA YOU DO NOT NEED. TEA IS SUPPOSED TO BE EPHEREMAL. ENJOY WHILE IT LASTS.

Decent smoky gunpowder for bagged. My expectation for " whole leaf Gunpowder Green Tea pearls" are exactly that but Numi’s or bagged tea industry mean that the broken tea leaf size is about a 1/4 in. length and 1/8 width. I assume tea in a typical tea sachet needs to be not whole to brew in the volume restriction. And this “pearl” tea is large in broken leaf size compared to other Numi tea which is about 1/10 this size. My emailed response from them did not address that issue but offered this: Please return the items and write the reason for your return on the back of your packing slip. For your protection, please use FedEx or Insured Parcel Post for shipment.
Shipping return I estimate several hundred dollars so this seems a template response and is flippant to my concerns. Oh well, I will try to enjoy what I have and have learned to be more cautious with bulk buying. (I know companies dump returned tea so either have non-refundable policies or don’t require return shipping if they OK a refund. Just know Numi Teas have neither.)

This tea is a must for lovers of Earl Grey and dessert flavors. It has a sweet quality reminiscent of caramel without actual sweetener. I am stretching it with 2/3 standard EG, 1/3 EG Ceesecake and this blend has the same aroma, albeit not as strong as 100% 52 teas blend. This is my preference when I want to enjoy this all morning and not deplete my entire pouch in a week.
I am learning that I should go straight to asking for a personal blending of a pound of my 100 ratings rather than squirreling away extra pouches. Just need to save up for these addictions.

Trying my sampler. Brewed it light – 1 tsp/10 oz but has a strong smoky, earthy flavor. This reminds me of large elaborate Chinese banquets. Complex, reminiscent of puer’s dark tastes.

The dry scent reminds me of honeydew melon initially. My boyfriend immediately identified watermelon so people who love both will enjoy this. I taste the fruity flavoring, then the tea alternately and those are balanced in the first steep. Second steep allows the tea to shine and the melon is the undernote. I was surprised at the suggested steep time of 4.5 min since that’s twice as long as usual time for white teas. I am reminded of a previous discussion that silver needle can handle hotter and longer due to having a thicker “body” in it being the apex leaf bud. I want to try a boiling temp rinse of 30 sec, then brew at the usual 170-185 for 2 min first steep, increasing steep time for as long as it can go. That adventure needs to wait another day though.

My recent tasting of fresh Concord grapes reminded me to try this again. If I ever thought this tea had a candy grape jelly flavor – who knew, these grapes do taste candy-like. And this tea is perfect in this respect. Oh, brainstorm.. I HAVE to try this with a PB sandwich!

This is not the most chocolately flavor but at least it tastes of tea, good tea at that. I think the flavor I imagined of this could only be managed with artificial means so I am content with this one. Rarely do steeped natural additives taste as they would fresh just as you wouldn’t actually taste tobacco in wines purported to have hints of such. Probably won’t replenish after I finish the 2oz. but mostly because there are so many other Butiki teas to sample.

Could sniff this forever.

3 min too long a steep for me. Try 2.5 min next time. Still, not ruined but prefer less bitter tea. I do love the additives in this. The flavors stay with you for a while after you drink it.

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