I must confess that I was becoming jealous of all the posts today that mentioned their GM sampler had arrived. Then I went out on an errand and came home and saw the package in my entryway. I let out an earth-shattering “squee” that sent my cat tearing across the room for cover. But I digress and would like to post my tasting note and then re-digress so anyone who wants the review can read it up front and then ignore the rest of my rambling.
This was the first tea I chose out of the 31 even though so many called out to me. I have never tried a black/fruit tea combo (oops – just realized that I’ve had decaf apricot ::facepalm::) and this one just sounded happy. I’m also hoping to expand my understanding of black teas. I’m generally not a fan of many of the black teas I’ve had – I’m turned off by their astringent bite. I popped open the bag and holy schnikees! It was pear. It was uber-pear. It was pear that shouted “I will suck your soul!” Underneath that there was a bit of musky-polleny smell.
I steeped that sucker and held off eating (I was really hungry) just to try this without distraction. I found it utterly yummy. I’m not a fan of pear and I’m not a fan of honey. Who knew that this blend would do a dance of happiness in my mouth? I drank the whole cup without eating since I was enjoying it so much. Afterward I did get a dryness to my mouth, but that doesn’t bother my noob palate – not yet. I’ll try more teas, but so far this is on my shortlist for my next GM order. And I’m dying to try this one iced. TG
Okay – so now I wanna have a moment to express my utter joy with tea. I’m a HUGE lover of books, but I can’t recall squeeling over a new book’s release. In the short time I’ve been discovering tea (with loose leaf being a mind-blowing new experience), I have fallen in love with the drink/experience. I love tea. I love the process. I am a tea-aholic and that brings me joy. I’ll find myself running my hands over the tea pots as the tea steeps and that makes me happy. I wish I had better words to express how much tea has rocked my world and I’m so very grateful that there’s Steepster. I’ve gained so much insight and pleasure from reading others’ thoughts. Happy, happy, joy, joy!
That is all :)
Edit: Okay, so not quite all. After my second steep I think I was coming down from my first ever “tea high” – like a runner’s high only yummier. There was something odd about this tea that I couldn’t put my finger on, so I read through more tasting notes and takgoti nailed it: “strawberry runts and banana boat suntan lotion.” And after reading others I thought that there must be a better fruit tea out there – so I bumped down my rating a bit. I still like this tea, but I’m more uncertain about reordering. The TG stays for now since at that time I definitely was euphoric, but not due to this tea alone. I shall try this one more time in a saner frame of mind and possibly readjust the rating one more time.
