Ramona's Spiced Pear Bai Mu Dan

I ordered this one a while back, but I hadn’t tried it yet… so I thought it was about time!

I have a tremendous fondness for white tea. And this one is very good. I have read of many a displeasure on Steepster when it comes to white pear teas, but this one has a very pleasing pear flavor, and it is nicely accented with cinnamon and cloves.

Very good tea. I don’t know how this would fair as an iced tea – the flavors might be a bit too delicate for iced tea. But it does make a pleasing hot tea for later in the evening.

Hahahaha this is like drinking potpourri! I used to have such a thing for pear teas (after trying one in France during high school). The love has waned a bit though. This one tastes mostly of the cinnamon and clove, and while that sounds delicious to me in theory- in practice I feel as though I’ve licked the walls of an Olde Tyme Americana Crafts store. Maybe I’ll stick the rest of this in my sock drawer to scent my socks. It’s that kinda smell, you know? :)

p.s. I just had an odd conversation. I told a girl that I drink at least 4-5 cups of tea a day and she was shocked. I told her I know she drinks at least that much between the soda and energy drinks she’s always guzzling, and for me it’s just a matter of filling my days with tea and sparkling water (and the occasional coffee) instead of other beverages. She didn’t understand in the slightest. Oh, Americans.

This tea is ok, but not one of my favorites.

The smell of the tea in the bag is something akin to potpourri. I was a little scared. I brewed it as directed (160 F) and got mostly hot water taste. So I brewed it again at boiling temp and got much better flavor out of it. I tried it unsweetened and didn’t like it much and then I sweetened it pretty well with agave nectar and the pear flavor started to pop. This has a nice pear flavor and definitely has spice. I taste cinnamon and I think cloves. Luckily it tastes much better than it smelled in the bag.