Mother Of Pearl

This is excellent!
Sorry purists – I added a little rock sugar – made all the flavors POP!
The aromas and flavors are woodsy pu with vanilla and strawberry – mango – floral – full succulent mouthfeel – and its SO pretty to look at!
Just placed an order with Della Terra because this and the Mellow Mango Peach are delicious!
Can’t wait to try more of their new blends coming out really soon as well!
YUMMMMM

This tea sounded so interesting, when I won a Della Terra Tea contest, I had to go for it. You just don’t see pu-erh blends like this everyday. As others have said, I thought the pearl balls were for show, but they actually melt in the tea itself. Very neat!!

This tea has a very nice taste and is a nice starter pu-erh or good for someone who doesn’t like straight pu-erh. I myself have a hard time drinking pure pu-erh (see what I did there?), and I find this very good. The pu-erh is not overpowered, you can definitely taste it, but it’s not so in your face either. A nice flavored tea.

Still have to try this iced since apparently it’s amazing, according to all the other steepter reviews..

I won a contest on Della Terra’s Facebook page for a free sample of tea of my choosing (I went with S’mores) and 2 other samples: this was one of them! It doesn’t seem to be one of their more popular blends, probably because it’s on the pricey side. I was excited to try it though, since mango + rose petals is a combo I love. As a side note, their site says rosehips are an ingredient while my bag says rose petals. I looked through my tea and saw a lot of petals but no rosehips.

I have a few fruity-floral blends already, so my hopes for this weren’t that high. I mean, I wanted it to be good, but I wasn’t expecting to be blown out of the water. Boy was I wrong! This stuff is DELICIOUS. The strawberry is so juicy and fresh, and balanced perfectly with the mango. They’re two fruits I never thought of really going together, but they work so well here! I was amazed at how good the strawberry was, not at all artificial. The rose backs up the fruity flavors perfectly, for that hint of floral undertone that I just love in iced tea.

The most interesting aspect of this blend is definitely the pu-erh. It adds an earthy, smokey undertone that keeps this from being just a nice fruity/floral blend and really elevates it. The cute little faux pearls also aren’t for show: they melted pretty quickly into my cup during a short 4-hour cold brew and added a lovely sweetness. This tea is fruity, floral, earthy, and sweet: so perfect for an iced tea! They have a spend $25 get 2 free ounces of tea promo going on, and I am REALLY tempted to pick up some sampler packs and some more S’mores just to get my hands on more of this tea.

Backlog. It’s sparkly, a la DavidsTea’s Glitter & Gold! Awesome :) There’s a bit of a fishy aroma once brewed (I seem to be quite sensitive to that with pu’erhs), but it also smells like sweet artificial strawberry. Delicious, haha.

This is actually quite a good flavoured pu’erh, in my opinion! A nice fruity strawberry flavor overlaying a mild but present pu’erh base. There’s a hint of fishiness, but it’s not really all that bothersome. As I mentioned about the aroma, I am finding the strawberry to be artificial, however I adore that candy strawberry flavor, so it’s not a negative for me in the slightest. This is the first fruity flavoured pu’erh (that’s not citrus) that I have had, and I’m really quite enjoying it. I definitely understand the rave reviews!

Second infusion in half the water for far too long was quite tasty as well.

Another home run from Della Terra!

The first thing I noticed after I brewed this is that it SPARKLES. And I was so excited about it that I had to go over to Rayn and go “Rayn, Rayn! Look at this tea! It sparkles!!!” And he confirmed that yes, it was in fact sparkling. It looks like little glitter is just dancing around in the tea! So cool!

Then I smelled the tea: ripe strawberries and a little bit of rose. No pu-erh smell. After a few seconds, it was time to taste. I taste earthy pu-erh with no hint of fishyness. Then the juicy strawberry flavor, like strawberry candies. I taste just a hint of mango.

I’ll be honest, I was expecting this not to work. At all. But it totally does! And seriously, tea that sparkles? Della Terra just keeps impressing me.

I know I’m totally weird, but I dreamt of drinking pu’reh all night last night. It was great. Must of been from randon tea videos I was watching on youtube yesterday. With that said, when I woke up and dying for some pu’reh!

DRY: Very pretty tea, colourful rose bits, fruit and adorable little pearly sugar balls. I hate those balls in cookies, always hurt my teeth, but I’m thinking that they would be better in tea!

STEEPED: Dark brown peachy coloured tea, smells almost chocolatey with a hint of peach.

TASTE: Smokey deep pu’reh hit first, with mango and peach flavors slowly spreading through. Slight sweetness at the end of my sip.
Sweetened, MOP peachy mango steps up with the pu’reh being an earthy smokey background. I prefer this tea sweetened.

COMMENTS: Hmmm, I’m thinking you really gotta like pu’reh for this tea, the smokeyness is quite strong unless you sweeten it.

I recently had Della Terra’s Mellow Mango Peach – very different tea because of the different bases. I like MOP a little more for its complexity.

A couple I’ve yet to write tasting notes for in my awesome Della Terra order. The little candies here certainly look like pearls! I think they add a bit of sugar sweetness that really helps the fruit flavors in their deliciousness. Because the strawberry and mango here are scrumtious (though the sweet strawberry is more present than the mango). It might just be me, but I think pu-erh has a much subtler flavor than black teas, which really help other flavors in the blend shine. The rose hips add even more refinement, but I’m not sure they added much flavor (I thought they usually taste more like hibiscus, but I might be wrong). They might have helped the fruits taste even better. Not sure. There is no bitterness at all as it cools. Only one of the 16 teas I’ve tried so far from Della Terra is something I wouldn’t care to drink again. Getting so many samples was a BAD idea… now I’ll be dreaming of getting full size pouches of everything! I’ve heard that pu-erh has more caffiene than black teas (and every other sort of tea). Anyone know if this is true?

What an attractive looking tea this is, all the better to drink you for my dear.

I would usually be at work at this time but because it’s been snowing fairly heavily in the last couple of hours I have been told to stay at home. Having my mother as my boss works out some times. :)

The raw teas smell reminded me of strawberry gummy sweets I used to buy as a kid. It smells very sweet and fruity. Yum.

After steeping for 4 minutes with boiling water the tea soup is now dark brown with a sweet yet slightly astringent strawberry smell (due to the pu erh I believe).

The raw smell was stronger than the steeped smell and the taste is also a weaker version. The pu erh is nice and earthy and the strawberry adds a little sweetness and fruitiness, enough to blend very well together. There are other fruity tones in there too but not as strong as the strawberry and I thankfully cannot taste the rosehip at all.

I think their own description of “perfectly fruity and sweet tea with a slight smoky undertone” is spot on.

What do we want? Flavoured Pu Erh
When do we want it? NOW!!!
Yum yum yum.

So this came with my sample of S’mores I won on the facebook contest, and I just got around to trying it. It’s really pretty, not sure if the colors are as vibrant as the picture, but still, attractive. I totally get strawberry mango in the dry leaves. With a bit of sugar, those fruity flavors really developed. Yet, I only finished half of my cup. The more I drank, the more I noticed something weird underneath, something rich, unidentifiable to me, and…somewhat unpleasant. I think this is just what pu’erh is. I feel bad not liking it. Maybe I need to try more. And suggestions on a mild pu’erh for a beginner?

Now that I’m on my next to last cup of this from the Try Me Pack, I may as well make a tasting note!

The smell on this one is absolutely luscious, in the way Mellow Mango Peach is – floral, fruity, sweet, but not cloying or artificial. And this one has the added smokey/woodsiness (and a slight fishiness) to it from the pu-erh! The feeling left in my mouth after having a sip of it is always cooling – like an all over floral sweetness. It’s also very beautiful, with the rose petals, fruit pieces and cute pearl candies. I’ve had it iced with a little sugar and it’s exceptionally lovely and refreshing that way, though having it hot seems to let me appreciate the pu-erh bits more. And as this was my first taste of pu-erh in any form, it makes me excited to explore more!

Thank you Ellyn! This tea has sparkles in it… I love sparkly teas :] The aroma is very sweet and earthy. The flavor is extremely tasty! I love the mixture of fruity sweetness and the earthiness of the pu-erh. Such a lovely tea :] Thank you again!

I’ve been curious about this tea for a while, so I was excited to receive it as part of a swap package from Dinosara. Thank you!

The smell of this tea reminded me of a country store I used to go to when visiting my grandparents during vacation. The woman who owned the store would always have several candles burning. There were one or two strawberry scented candles and then various other fruit scented ones burning at the same time. The smell should have been overpowering, but to me it seemed homey and warm. Plus, the woman who owned the store always called me “honey” or “sugar”, and I loved that. Happy times.

Once brewed the fruity scent of the tea lingered. I was getting lots of strawberry, but the mango was more subtle. The taste was a bit of fruit, not near as much as I was expecting given the smell, and rich, dark, tea with a hint of smoke. The pu-erh was not as earthy or woody as I was expecting, but I do not have much experience with pu-erhs yet. The richness of the tea and the fruit flavors combined to make an enjoyable tea.

It’s not something I can see myself reaching for everyday, but I can see how this could occasionally find it’s way on my shelf.

I must be a purist when it comes to Pu-erh but I’m just not liking the favored ones. While I enjoy this tea I just know I’d enjoy it more as a black or green tea.

Fixed myself a cup of this to drink in the bath with a good book, and oh my gosh the leaves alone are just so pretty with the pearls and everything. The taste is light and sweet, and I don’t get that earthy/fishy pu-erh taste that I get with the others I’ve tried. Lovely!

Finally on the mend from the Cold of Death (also known as a wicked combination of bronchitis and pneumonia) and I can finally dive into the box of teas that arrived a week ago! Is there anything more cruel than having a box of 20 new teas arrive that you cannot smell or taste? GAH. Anyway, I think the proportions were a tad off in this one, the mug it was made in was larger than expected so it didn’t have my usual ratio of sugar in it. Still, I very much enjoyed it. Let me put it this way. I felt it needed a touch more sugar, but not enough to get me off of my lazy duff to get up and add it, ha! I really liked how the earthiness of the pu-erh balanced out the sweetness of the fruit…I definitely need to try this one again.

Intense natural strawberry flavor. I also taste the rose, but the mango seems to be lost. The pu’erh flavor is also very much hidden – I don’t taste any fishiness or dirt taste – maybe I added too much sugar in anticipation of that taste. I am not a fan of pu’erhs, but this was a delicious dessert tea.

I’ve been curious about this tea for a while now for a number of reasons. The ratings are so high and I really wondered if it was as good as everyone said. The combination just seemed like it wouldn’t work, and the pearl pieces seemed odd, but sometimes things just all come together and are amazing. This is one of those times.

This is my first Pu-erh and I almost put off trying it because it is a blend and I wanted to taste Pu-erh in its natural state first. I’m glad I didn’t wait, this was really good. In fact, I think that if I had just started out with a plain Pu-erh I wouldn’t have liked it and may even have given up on it. The Strawberry and Mango really add a wonderful flavor to this and help with the wet moss smell. I really don’t like the way this tea smells at all, but after a few cups it’s growing on me. I also find that I enjoy the second steep more than the first because it mellows out a bit. I like that the pearls are for more than just show, they add a subtle sweetness that brings out the fruit flavors.

I don’t think this is a tea I could enjoy drinking every day, I think it will become another fall tea for me like Lapsang Souchong. Something about the smokey, earthy flavor just screams fall to me.

This is my first Pur-eh tea, and I am impressed. Just sweet enough, just savory enough, and with an absolutely AMAZING smell that reminds me of chocolate covered strawberries or cherries. I am in love. It might be one I get more of just because its brilliant.