92
drank French Breakfast by Octavia Tea
4170 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

gmathis

This sounds wonderfully elegant.

Kittenna

Mmm, sounds like a keeper, especially with the cherry/cherry blossom notes!

tea-sipper

Yeah, it’s definitely a unique tea both six years ago and now.

Rosehips

Ooh, this is good to know! This has been on my “I want to try this” list for ages.

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Comments

gmathis

This sounds wonderfully elegant.

Kittenna

Mmm, sounds like a keeper, especially with the cherry/cherry blossom notes!

tea-sipper

Yeah, it’s definitely a unique tea both six years ago and now.

Rosehips

Ooh, this is good to know! This has been on my “I want to try this” list for ages.

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Bio

Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.

Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandala
verdanttea.com

Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas

My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.

Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!

I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.

My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors

My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again

I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)

Happy sipping!

Location

USA

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