It’s been a bit since I’ve had this, mostly because the husband isn’t a big fan and so I feel a little guilty making him drink something he doesn’t enjoy. I’m the one that makes our morning tea and I try not to abuse the husband too much in the process. But in the spirit of cycling out my current teas to prepare to replace them with new ones (lots and lots of new ones), I decided to have this one again.
The sour smell from the leaves always makes me think I hate this tea, that the smell carries over to the taste. Other than that, I seriously can’t remember this tea. Well, maybe a vague recollection that milk does it no favors? But the directions say to try with rock sugar. I have raw sugar, which begins with r-something and ends with sugar, so I put some in.
Ooookay, I think I put a bit much (though I only used a teaspoon for my 12oz). I’m going to need to try this straight sometime (but taking it with me on my drive to work is NOT the time to be daring – tea mistakes cannot be fixed in a car with no sugar or milk and going 70). My first impression is SWEET! Like, not awesome sweet but dear-lord-how-much-sugar-did-I-put-in-here sweet. The second is… hmm, tea. Soft, slightly fluffy/floral tea. I don’t peg the rose so much as just a general softness to the edges of the tea. I think it is a bit too delicate for milk which is probably why I remember milk doing nothing happy to it. Not an overly complex flavor (and I have got to try it with less/no sugar) but a decent enough tea to work for me, if not overly memorable. I bet it would be a good as iced tea (and when I say that, I mean Southern sweet tea with a cup and a half of sugar per gallon).
Hah! I just got an email from the husband. I asked him how he liked his tea and his response was that it was awesome, a 4-star tea and what was it. I know he didn’t like this tea before but again, I think it was the milk thing. Plus, he’s a big fan of sweet tea so I think the super-sweetness of this tea is most likely what he’s really enjoying.
That’s not to say this is a bad tea. If I had to choose between this and no tea, I’d totally go with this and be happy about it. It’s just not overly memorable or blow-me-away-able. But sometimes having a little light, fluffy cotton candy of a tea is needed. Hopefully I remember that next time instead of being tricked by the sour smell of the leaves.
(BTW: I brought GM’s Rose sampler with me today to have a somewhat delayed head-to-head tea competition with rose as the theme ingredient. Whose tea will reign supreme? Actually, I have an idea but I’ll wait for the official word from the judges.)
