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The taste of the main ingredient, pyrrosia leaf (a fern species), is very mild and lightly tannic-spicy. It is similar to rhododendron, Labrador tea, or uva ursi (all genus Rhododendron), however more leafy and not as red-barky tasting. Pyrrosia leaf also feels gentler in the body than any of those. This tea is a mild diuretic.

Finally, a Bigelow tea that performs. Fresh and very spicy ginger countered and smoothed by equally strong honey and grounded by red rooibos. Fennel isn’t distinct but probably rounds out the taste and nausea-calming effect of ginger. If Mastress Alita had a whole box of this, I’d gladly take it off her hands. How much zinc is actually in this?

One bag makes a full-flavored 8-10 oz cup.

Tea Plant News:

This year’s tea seed germination rates were very high for the 4 varieties I started. The sprouts are the healthiest yet, probably due to a strangely cool and foggy July. A few years ago I bought 3 or 4 varieties of seed, most of which turned out to be duds, including a variety from Taiwan. I think I have only a few surviving plants from those batches. Glad this years seeds are taking off!

The surviving tea plants from years past now in nursery pots do not like our normal dry season of unrelenting sun and can get sunburned easily if in the wrong spot during peak UV hours. They’re now doing well under the shade of a California coast live oak in one corner of the backyard, all grouped together.

Certain tea plants probably with very high sugar content seem to attract aphids twice a year, more so when the land is fully parched in September and October. Leaf curl and drop ensue. I had given up trying to control the aphids and now that the plants are bigger, they seem to bounce back easier from the biannual infestations. This is good. I can’t imagine how much stronger the 3- and 4-year-old plants would be if I had them in the ground. Why have I been dragging my feet on doing so for the past few years? The plants need to grow!

The original assamica plants did great for 2 years and then didn’t take well to transplanting from large planter boxes into nursery pots when I moved last year. The original Black Sea sinensis plants were very slow to grow the first few years but are now certainly outperforming the assamica, which I wasn’t expecting given our climate. Next year, I would like to try pruning for the first time and cloning the strongest Black Sea plants. I’m glad Camellias are patient plants since my green thumb isn’t the most saturated.

Tastes like a mix of lemon meringue pie (plus lemongrass and mild earthy ginger) with that Yakult probiotic flavor.

Interesting. Novel.

Got a mixed package for Christmas of the 3 Catspring’s varieties of loose leaf yaupon. This extra teabag was in the box.

I’d be fooled if somebody told me this is a lighter roast houjicha. Hit all the right notes this morning with a summer fog that was sprinkling fine mist on every surface. Mellow and smooth and sweet. Decent caffeine kick to boot.

Will come back to this for tasting note details when I break open the looseleaf :)

Received as a gift from somebody who visited Old Barrel in person!

Cold-brew is my first attempt and it’s a fruity, saturated blueberry brew. Artificial in the sense that it reminds me of the blueberry-scented Strawberry Shortcake doll I had in the late 80s, but I like it in the moment. Some light florality from the oolong and other ingredients. A little bit of lemongrass permeates throughout the main blueberry taste. Purplish-blue from the butterfly pea flowers.

I’ll try it hot, but I think most of this will go cold-brewed since added flavorings tend to hold up better that way.

On my third canister over the course of 4 or so years. This rooibos remains consistently smooth and rich despite it no longer being “long cut”. Hands down the best rooibos I’ve had!

Bigelow teas, with the exception of Constant Comment, fall flat for me, almost like I did this morning as I nearly face-planted upon rising from a deeeep sleep. I was hoping for something that would stabilize the discombobulated wobbles and provide a bit of sunshine to the start of a cloudy and cool day. Sadly, this was not it.

Watery, spicy yet stale ginger, earthy but not grounding, weak turmeric, some tang, flat artificial musty peach. Couldn’t taste the chicory or any of the other spices like cardamom and cinnamon, but I could taste the paper teabag. That’s the worst part. Not that there’s anything wrong with teabags. Some just have a strong paper taste.