I enjoyed the rose Earl Grey from H&S, Sally’s Secret, quite a bit, so I was looking forward to seeing what this one was like.
In the sample packet the scent is very strongly of rose. Although I escaped an association with bath products, I can see how others might not. The ingredient list indicates that this contains rose oil, and there is a sort of volatile quality to it that makes it smell stronger than one might expect simply from fresh roses. This isn’t to say that the smell is bad or has a false note. I didn’t find it to be that way, but then I’m a really big fan of rose fragrance.
The intensity of the fragrance smooths out some with steeping and I can smell the biscuity sweetness of the tea underneath. There’s still a nice rose scent to the tea.
The rose is very, very present in the taste and I liked it quite a bit. It has been a while since I tasted the GM rose, and this is stronger, at least as far as memory serves. It’s about on a par with the degree of flavor present in the Numi Velvet Garden White Rose, only it may seem a little less because the black tea provides more of a buffer than white does.
This is a little too rosy for daily consumption, even for a rose lover like me. However, it’s an amazing flavor for an occasional dose of rose.
