This tea is pretty as potpourri! So many colors mixed in. Dark green chun mei leaves, yellowy lemon peel, and blue, pink, and cream-colored flower petals. The blue flowers appear to be cornflower, the pink might be rose, and I think the pale petals are chrysanthemum. Harney & Son’s website doesn’t go into specifics.
It’s delightfully fragrant as soon as I open the tin. A sweet, Meyer lemon-like aroma is mostly what I’m getting. As it steeps, the water changes to a light tannish yellow. The scent is a little more pungent after the chun mei brews, but it’s not off-putting. It reminds me of lemon verbena. The flavor is surprisingly smooth and citrusy. It’s not tart in any way as I kind of expected. The lemon mutes the green tea aspects of this completely. No ocean or grass flavors whatsoever. Also, I don’t really taste the flowers, either. I know cornflower doesn’t really have a flavor and chrysanthemum is usually very mild… but I at least expected to be able to taste the rose. Alas, this is basically an exceptionally pretty lemon green tea.
I’m not saying it’s bad in anyway. In fact, it tastes lovely. I was just sort of expecting more.
Flavors: Flowers, Lemon Zest
