I have brewed this hot, but am reserving judgement on that as I don’t recall exactly what I thought about it. I can tell you that when I bought it and opened the bag on the way home to sniff it, I was immediately overcome with an urge to eat some, and so I did. That vegetal oolong flavor is yummy!
Brewing it cold as I’m drinking it right now (overnight in the fridge, loose in the jar) for about 22 hours yields a golden liquid with a tinge of green. It smells wonderful, flowery, but then that’s jasmine—this is a tea that has plenty of jasmine flavor for my taste, which is saying something. I’m also getting that vegetal flavor I like so much. Unfortunately I’m also getting some bitterness. I wonder whether adding some ice would help, but something tells me not. The tannic bitterness keeps this from being a truly drinkable iced tea. I’ll finish the brew (it was a small jar, just two servings) but I don’t know if I’ll try this again iced, unless I can’t think of anything else I want.
After I strained out the tea leaves, which had expanded by many times overnight, I ate a couple. Same nice spinach-y taste. I have this wild yen to add them to a dish of sauteed greens…! It is nice to find a Teavana scented tea where the base is high-quality, I just wish the bitterness weren’t there. Maybe I’ll try with less tea next time.
