Kittenna

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Kittenna drank English Rose by DAVIDsTEA

Anticipating ickiness, I am trying this tea because I want to leave it for my mom and not feel like I missed out on trying something! Even though I know I’m unlikely to like it, since it smells overwhelmingly of rose.

Surprisingly, either I brewed this well or the rose is not as strong as in other teas (or because I left out an actual rosebud from the infuser); I’m actually finding it to be bearable. And perhaps because of the white chocolate(?), there are other flavours taking away from the extreme floralness. That said, it’s not a tea I’d choose to drink if I had any choice. But it’s not drain-worthy. Thankfully, I’m leaving the remaining 8-9g for my dear mother. No rating because I went into this expecting it to be bad; it would probably rate in the low 60s for me.

2012-07-26 02:58:59 -0400

205 °F / 96 °C

3 min 0 sec

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Ninavampi 2012-07-26 10:02:35 -0400

Now I really really want to try this…

tigress_al 2012-07-26 14:35:13 -0400

Hmm, I wasn’t going to try this because I thought it would be super strong rose like you said, but maybe I will give it a try.

Incendiare 2012-07-26 16:29:56 -0400

I’ve been on the fence about this one too.

Kittenna 2012-07-26 22:54:44 -0400

Well, it’s still very much ROSE, but less so than some others I’ve tried. Like I said though, I can’t say whether it’s because I used less tea/brewed it properly this time or what exactly, but I did feel like I was tasting other yummy flavours in there. If you like rose, it will probably be good. If you can get a small sample, I’d say go for it.

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.