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So I am almost, almost done with my rosey teas, or at least the ones that acutally are rosey. I mean, I still have a few that sprinkle a few rose petals into the mix, but nary a rose flavor is to be found. Those don’t count.

Guys, I am almost out of this tea. Like, I think I have less than a cup of leaf left, which probably means it’s getting blended with other things in a cold steep. Sad! I have quite a list of “standard panel” teas that are no longer in my possession, and it will be a while before I can restock; this one will soon be joining their ranks. I love the flavor blend in this, and that it always seems to wake me up even though it’s a black/green blend.

This tea is just one of those teas that makes me smile as soon as the hot water hits the leaf and a wave of wonderful aroma comes out of the cup. It’s just so good! It’s also one of those blends where I don’t even know what all the different flavors are, but I like them. Yes, I get the florals, including the rose, but there’s also a fruitiness that I’m not quite able to identify. Sometimes I wish I knew, and other times I don’t really care because whatever it is, it tastes good.

What? Valentines day is over, you say? Oh, but the parade of rose teas continues. By tasting through all of them I’m getting a sense of how the “rosey” part of my cupboard should be stocked, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

When I think about it, this tea isn’t too far off from the Shalimar Oolong I have. It’s rose and passion, except it’s on black tea instead of oolong and the Shalimar also has mango in the mix. I’m happy to report that the weird metallic taste I was getting last time is gone, thank goodness. Just tasty juicy passion fruit with a nice rose, all on a tasty black base. I think this one is a little tarter than the Shalimar Oolong, and I’m honestly not sure which I prefer. The Shalimar is certainly more easily accessible, this one being brought back from London. All the same I would probably pick up another tin of this the next time I’m in London.

I wanted a rose tea that wasn’t fruity, so this called to me. I do really like this blend, all rosey and almondy. It could only be more perfect if it was more almondy, but I’m a bit of an almond fiend so nothing is ever too almondy for me. Still, it’s a blend I would venture into a Teavana store to buy, which is definitely saying something.

Yesterday I was thinking that I would just have enough rose teas to make it through today. Then I realized… that’s silly! I have way more rose teas than that, but it can be hard to remember all of them in my stash. This was one I had forgotten about, but sure enough here it is, all rosey and lemony and a bit herby. I kind of let it over cool before I got to it, so I’m not sure if the slight bitterness is coming from that or just that I should drop the steep time. I am getting a hint of smoke from the gunpowder green thsi time as well. Still a pretty decent tea. It reminds me a bit of the rose oolong from Tea Licious that I finished up the other day, but I prefer that one (no surprise, it’s an oolong).

1.5 tsp Raspberry Black by Monterey Bay Spice Company + 0.5 tsp China Rose from ESP Emporium

Originally I was going to have a cup of just China Rose this morning because I haven’t had a straight up rose black in a long time. But then I kinda needed to try some of this raspberry tea, so I decided to make a Raspberry Rose instead.

It’s a good blend! Rose blacks are often so strong that only a bit is needed to get a rosey flavor, and that’s true here. The tea smells and tastes of roses and sweet, juicy raspberries. This is really a great blend of flavors! Honestly I think rose goes well with lots of different fruits. Adding a bit of this rose congou, which has a nice, tasty base, to the MBSC fruit black gave it a little something more interesting (I have, in the past, found MBSC fruit blacks to be a bit underwhelming in the flavor of the base… not bad, but not interesting). Anyway, it’s a good combo that I might have to keep around.

There was no question that I’d be having a cup of this today. Probably my most floral tea, and rosey to boot. When still very hot this cup seemed almost too floral for me, which is again something I am not used to, but as it cools the florals seem to mellow a bit and the oolong comes out. All the same, I’m just not feeling this one as much as I thought I would. Maybe it’s a particular floral in there (the calendula?) that I’m not as much of a fan of. Even my second steep, which is far less floral, still just doesn’t make me as excited as I would expect to be, being a lover of most things floral and green oolong. Ah well, I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t order a whole tin of this back when I put this order in!

I think I used a bit more leaf this time than I did last time… the leaves are so long and twisted that it’s one of those really hard to portion teas, and then add in huge rose buds that take up almost the entire perfect teaspoon. In any case, this time it’s still floral but also a little hayish in a very pleasant way. I think the rose/jasmine mix is a little more balanced this time, with both contributing fairly equally. There is something about this tea that is soothing and relaxing. It’s definitely getting reordered in my groupon order from the Tea Spot.

Mmm, I love this tea. It’s definitely the best fig flavored tea I’ve tried, and I love how all the flavors are both a little independant and then at once meld to form one awesome flavor. I haven’t had this one in a while and I couldn’t remember whether the rose was very prominent or not, but it’s definitely in the “there if you look for it, but not overwhelming” category. This tea is for sure on my reorder when I run out list from Dammann.

I happened across a few of these bottled teas in one of our specialty grocery stores today and had to pick one up. There were two different oolong varieties and this one acutally had rose in it. Double score! This is actually a blend of oolong and black tea with rose hips, rose petals and ginseng. It’s totally unsweetened but still manages to seem a bit sweet… though it’s also really tart, and I wouldn’t have minded a tiny bit of added sweetener. Overally it’s a pretty fruity tasting blend, with a hint of floral rose. The oolong is also definitely present in the flavor; it’s vegetal and pleasant, and there’s a hint of more of a black tea flavor as well. Overall it is pretty refershing and I would probably buy it again, though I do think it’s a little overly tart for me to be really enthusiastic about it.