Tried a different brewing method today by bringing the water to a boil, pouring into the pitcher, then added the pod. The old method of pouring water over the pod works better. This way the bloom remained floating on top the water for a very long time. It did eventually sink and fully open but I was beginning to wonder. The bloom is very pretty with a silver needle cradle holding a marigold while an arch of jasmine flowers rises above it to hold a globe amaranth. A few loose needles fell off but overall the display stayed intact. The brew is pale amber with a green tint.
Once again the flowers dominate. I believe the primary flavor here is the marigold. It is not an unpleasant taste but also not one I associate with tea. A bit milky? I think this would be good with honey. Not having any honey, I used sweetener. I like the taste of this better than the True Love flower tea but the display isn’t as spectacular.
Final note – while drinking the first cup, I left the remainder of the pot to steep to see what would happen. The result was a dark reddish brown tea resembling OP iced tea. Amazingly it made little difference to the flavor. No bitterness. No astringency. Mostly marigold flavored brew. As with most of my flower tea ratings I combine my sipping pleasure with the visual aspect and skew the rating slightly on the display side.
