Ian

Many thanks to my wonderful friend Isabella for giving me a sample of this tea! If you read this, Bella, you’re amazing!

I understand that this will be quite awkward as I am only 15 and writing a review on a champagne flavored tea…. Regardless, I have had a sip of my parent’s here and there and I know what it tastes like (trust me, I’m not a drinker!).

Anywho, on to the tea. The dry leaf smells like champagne and there is a subtle sweetness in the background… Steeped for 3 minutes with boiling water in my mug. The tea smells kind of bland. Sort of a champagne-y scent (if that makes sense….) but I can tell there’s a sweetness in the tea. The smell isn’t as strong as the dry leaf but the sweetness comes through more, if that makes sense.

For the first sips I’m getting kind of a chocolate-y taste, which is weird because there’s no chocolate. The aftertaste in my mouth is slightly sweet with a champagne-esque flavor.

As it cools the sweetness of the strawberry and the sort of slash (that’s the only word I can think of) of the champagne comes out, and it makes for a nice brew. Overall pretty tasty, though I don’t think I would purchase a full size version of this.

Thanks again Bella!

PS: I’ve realized my ratings don’t make sense (at least to me) so I will be going through and fixing them…. If anyone was wondering :P

2012-02-23 17:28:43 -0500

Boiling

3 min 0 sec

I Like This

6 likes

4 comments

People who liked this

Comments

Bonnie 2012-02-23 17:59:32 -0500

I’ve had this before and think from reading all your reviews that either you are not steeping long enough for your taste or not using enough tea sometimes. You seem to comment on weak brews. This one as I remember is better a bit stronger in my opinion and sweetened. Brings out the floral. The aftertaste is champagne alright.

Ian 2012-02-23 18:13:42 -0500

I couldn’t agree with you more. I always brew according to the instructions on the actual tea, and I haven’t really found my “rule of thumb” with most teas. I’m trying though!

Cheryl 2012-02-23 19:54:30 -0500

Great deal !!

Cheryl 2012-02-23 19:56:09 -0500

Scratch that. Meant, I’ve been struggling with “is it the tea?” or is it me (prepping). Makes me want to go back and test things again and tweek to make sure.

Profile

Bio

Hello!

I’m Ian and I’m a 15 year old student who lives in Vermont. I started (heavily) drinking tea in Late 2010 and have been obsessed ever since!

I tend to drink more black and herbal teas, though I do enjoy oolong, green, and white, and I’m exploring other facets of the tea world (I’m still trying with pu-erh!)

I tend to lean towards sweeter and fruity flavors in my teas, and I’m not a big fan of smoky flavored teas, or anything that’s VERY bold.

I also enjoy a cup of coffee every once and a while, though it does mess with my stomach sometimes so I don’t drink it as often as I drink tea.

In addition to tea drinking, I’m also really interested in:
Classical music (I’ve been playing clarinet for 5 years now and it’s my favorite thing to do), independent arts/music, education on environmental sustainability, reading, Fair Trade and safe-trade practices, Cognitive science, art history, and a lot more.

I’m open to swaps, but I don’t have a very wide collection. Regardless, if I review a tea and you would like a sample, feel free to message me and we can work something out! If you would like to just try something without a swap, feel free to ask too! I know that I personally don’t have a lot of teas to swap and if you’re in the same position as me just feel free to ask for a sample and I’ll send you some, no strings attached!

I run a blog on TeaTrade which you can find here: http://serendipitea.teatra.de/. The goal of my blog is to better connect tea with the arts and go beyond just the taste aspect of tea. Enjoy!