I probably should not have purchased this tonight. I don’t need it, but I rationalized it well enough to throw it in the grocery cart. It isn’t really for me, said I to myself, it is for my friend! And I have to taste it first to see if it is any good.
A friend came over for tea and ended up leaving me a list of teas to order for her, including almost a hundred bucks worth from Harney and Sons. After her tea got here, she realized that she is about to go on a trip and had ordered all loose leaf. She was distressed at the thought of having to drink restaurant tea, so I decided to put together a little gift for her of some tiny decorated envelopes with tea sachets in. The problem is I have very few, as almost all of mine is loose leaf, too!
She had fallen in love with Teavivre’s Jasmine Dragon Pearls, so I bought this as hopefully a decent substitute. But phooey….it really isn’t nearly as good. And it certainly isn’t cheap! Comparing the two, you get a lot more bang for your buck with Teavivre.
The good things – it is organic, the bag is nice cloth that really lets the leaves breathe and is biodegradable, it resteeps well, it isn’t cloying, it isn’t soapy, it isn’t horrible. I can drink this, and probably would like it better if I hadn’t already had the other one.
The cons – it is very expensive compared to buying a superior(Teavivre’s) loose product, the green base got a little bitter even though I thought I kept the water temp low enough and the time carefully down to three minutes. The resteep is better than the first having less bitterness.
Now to decide if it makes the cut into my friend’s gift…
