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tea-sipper drank French Breakfast by Octavia Tea

4325 tasting notes

Octavia’s French Breakfast tea has been haunting me since I tried a teabox sample of it ages ago. I asked Octavia about a few samples and they sent me a boatload. I am so appreciative, as I always wanted to try most of their teas! This tea has been lingering in my mind! The memory of this tea (and the tea itself) likely changed since I sipped it six years ago. It’s a lovely Chinese black base with vanilla beans, vanilla flavoring, and rose petals. To be honest, I can’t really see too many vanilla beans in the blend, but this is a black tea after all, maybe they’re hiding. Octavia suggests three teaspoons for one mug, but I definitely didn’t use that much. I thought it would be too much even if I cooled the water to 180 degrees as they also suggested. The scent of the dry leaf is like a baked goodie – definitely vanilla. I’m glad the base tea by appearance seems very similar to what I remember- a Chinese black tea seems perfect for vanilla. The color of the brew seems dark in appearance, but it’s smooth and full of that lingering vanilla. So so good. The rose doesn’t impact the tea too much and I’m certainly glad there isn’t any additional rose flavoring. In the first cup, I could swear there were hints of cherry blossoms. I steeped a half mug full on the third steep and the flavor was still going strong — somehow it seemed to constantly shift between cherry and cherry blossom, even more than the previous two steeps. A malty sweet brew that I’m very glad to revisit. Is it like I remember? Like I said, memory is fickle, but this tea is very close to memory.
Steep #1 // 1 1/3 teaspoons for a full mug // 26 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 2 minutes after boiling // 4 minute steep
Steep #3 // half mug – just boiled // 4 min

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