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I always love getting a package of tea in the mail, and so it was awesome to come home yesterday to find my free samples from Tea Licious in the box. I must have been in a floral mood when I picked these out, because they’re all flower-scented of some kind. Floral scented Earl Greys are definitely of interest to me, so this was one of the three I received.

The scent of the dried leaves on this one is very rosey, with a sharp citrus aroma from the bergamot. I didn’t have any brewing parameters for this one, so I went with my new standard for unknown blacks, boiling/3min. It brewed up pretty dark, with a maroonish red-brown liquor. The brewed tea smells powerfully like rose, even moreso than the straight up rose-scented tea I have. I don’t get as much of the EG aroma, but I occasionally get a whiff of it through the rose.

First sip… ROSE. Wow, this is rosey. The EG takes a backseat to the rose in this one, though I can taste a hint of bright bergamot at the end of the sip, and its slight astringency made it into the cup. The bergamot is not distinct on its own but seems to be combining with the rose to make it “brighter” somehow. I don’t quite think this was exactly what I’m looking for in an rose EG, but I do really like this tea, especially as a rose tea, and would consider stocking it just for that reason!

I wanted to go back and have these Jasmine Pearls again after my rapturous Harney & Sons experience this weekend. These were the first Jasmine pearls I’d ever tried, and I liked them a lot, but how do they stand up now?

The first time I brewed these I followed the instructions on the package of only putting in 4-6 balls with a cup (so I put in 8 or so with my 12oz cup). With Harney I put in a whole perfect teaspoon, so this time I did that as well. These pearls are a little larger overall, so I didn’t quite get the 24 pearls per tsp that I got with Harney, but definitely more than the 8 I put in last time. Last time I brewed for 5 minutes and it was still very light in color and flavor (no wonder, with so few pearls). This time I went for 4 minutes; the liquor is still light, but the jasmine flavor is a bit more prominent I think, and this time I’m definitely getting a distinct hit of sweetness I don’t remember getting last time. Nevertheless, the taste isn’t as well rounded and it has less depth. The sweetness seems to hang out at the end of the sip and doesn’t quite meld properly with the jasmine aroma. It’s still a nice jasmine tea, and there’s nothing really that’s bad about it, but it just doesn’t blow me out of the water.

My pancake breakfast tea finally arrived yesterday! This is my first order from 52 Teas, and I was lucky enough to get one of the packets added after they pouched all the tea up. I just couldn’t resist! I’ve been thinking about maple in tea; I love that flavor and would like to have it in a tea, but it’s not all that common. Hence this one was a must try!

The dried leaves smell powerfully like pancakes and most of all maple syrup. I was unsure of the brewing parameters on this one, so I looked at the reviews here; they’re kind of all over the place, but I decided to go less-than-boiling and a shorter time to start out. My liquor ended up a dark reddish brown, and the aroma of the brewed tea seems to be primarily the black tea with some buttery, pancakey scents; I’m a little sad the maple has decreased a lot in the aroma. Like some others, I’m mostly getting black tea in the flavor, with the buttery pancake with a hint of maple sweetness in the aftertaste. I don’t like sweetening my tea, so I don’t want to have to do that to bring the pancake flavors out, but maybe I’ll brew it longer next time and see if that helps. Still a pleasant tea, but I like my tea a little more strongly flavored.

Three minutes is a much better steep time for this tea, at least to my taste, although I’m surprised to still get a hint of bitterness on some sips. It’s amazing how much this tea smells like a fresh, ripe, juicy mango when brewed. I could just inhale the aroma all day. Once again the taste is mangoey but surprisingly floral, with possibly even a hint of jasmine, although I think I’m getting that less so this go-around. I really want to get that bitterness out of the cup, because I really want to love this tea. I guess the steeping temp is the next thing to adjust!

I guess I’m in a somewhat chocolatey mood still, because this one called out to me and I decided I wanted to do another tasting of it. This time I steeped it just a hair longer than before, and I think some of the flavors are a little more robust without getting bitter. The aroma is very chocolatey with a floral bergamot undertone. The taste is a little more malty than last time, and predominately chocolate (a roasty, cacao-nib chocolate) with a bright, citrusy texture and aftertaste. I’m not getting a lot of bergamot/EG flavor with this one, although once again I get more as it cools. I’m adjusting this one down a bit because I’m a little less entranced by it’s offerings this time; it doesn’t quite deliver for me on the chocolate or EG fronts as much as I’d like it to. I still enjoy the cup, and it’s definitely unique.

When I was at the Harney Soho store one of the teas I chose to sample was the Dragon Pearl Jasmine. I asked about their Jasmine teas in general and the guy helping me brought down both this tea and the Yin Hao Jasmine; upon smelling them I knew this was the one I had to try. The jasmine smell of the Dragon Pearl was much more powerful and flowery. My sample basically blew me away. The first thing that struck me was how sweet the tea was, and how delicious the floral flavor was melding with that. Full, lovely jasmine flavor, like fresh picked jasmine flowers, with a beautiful rounded strongly honeysuckle sweetness that lingers on the tongue. I can’t remember ever having so delicious a jasmine tea, and I had to buy some of course.

So I brought my 2oz of pearls home and made myself wait until this afternoon when I had my temp-controlled tea kettle and some time to enjoy them. I really wish Harney would put the steeping instructions for individual teas on their website, since I didn’t really know anything but the temperature for this. I read that someone got 21 pearls out of a sachet meant for 12oz of water, and a level perfect teaspoon yielded 24 pearls for my 12oz Kati cup, so I figured I would go with that. A 3min 30sec steep time seemed to be what most people were doing in the reviews, so I went with that. Most of the pearls seem to have completely unfolded in the first steep (this didn’t actually happen at the tasting bar at the Soho store, but the cup they were steeping in was smaller), although a few were still loosely bound together. The flavor is the same amazing flavor I got from my sample at the store, so these parameters seem to be good. I get strong flavor all the way through the cup, from hot to cool. These seem to be my Jasmine Pearls to beat!

Second steep, 5 min. I didn’t get to try resteeping the leaves in the store, but I can now. This steep is a little less sweet, especially when very hot. The Jasmine aroma is still very strong, and the sweetness definitely comes out as it cools a bit. Definitely a delicious second steep as well.

I finally went by the Harney & Sons Soho store this weekend; I’ve been meaning to go for a while now, but I was finally able to convince my non-tea drinking boyfriend to come along with me. I was able to sample a bunch of different teas (since he didn’t want it, I got his choose-your-own sample) and generally had a very nice time. I refilled my stock of this tea, plus picked up a couple of others and an adorable teacup covered in British birds (I’m a total bird nut). I wish I had gotten more!

My new pouch of this tea smells so fresh! I’m definitely going to try to buy my loose leaf direct from the store when I can; the only issue is that the pouches don’t come with steeping instructions, and Harney’s website doesn’t provide them for each tea. I guess if I pick up a pouch of tea I’m unfamiliar with I can ask at the tasting counter and write it down on the pouch (the pouches are foil-lined, but have a simple brown-paper outer layer). I noticed that for the samples, the water for the black tea was 202-207ºF (we could read the temp on the water tank, and it was 202ºF when he poured the water for my sample, but as we stood there the temp climbed a bit), and the water for the green tea was 175ºF. Which confirms my thoughts that I should brew my Harney blacks a bit under boiling. I did with this one, and it came out great. The nutty, chocolatey, roasty flavor I totally love!

Last cup from my sample pack of this one! :( I guess I’ll need to get around to ordering more from Tea District finally. I’d love to try other Lavender Earl Greys, but I know I’m definitely a fan of this one. Finishing up the pack I think I put a little too much tea in my mug, because it’s really strong. It’s also really lavender-y today, probably because a lot of the little lavender buds fall down to the bottom of the pouch, so there’s a lot in this steep.

Working from home again today, so my morning-tea options are limited. Can’t go wrong with a pot of Tower of London, though.

It took me a while to get around to sampling my last tea from Butiki; thanks again to Stacy for the samples to review! Apparently it’s a coconut tea day for me. Brewed up, this one smells very coconutty, though it’s a ‘brighter’ coconut than my earlier tea, if that makes any sense. I think it’s partly the slightly fruity, slightly nutty flavor of the rooibos, and it’s giving the tea a pretty tropical aroma. The taste confirms this aroma; the flavor of the rooibos is definitely present in this one, with a lovely coconut note. It is fairly creamy and overall the flavors meld well together. Quite a tasty tea and a great one for coconut lovers.