China Rose Tea OP

5/5 ESP Emporium Teas

I’m finally reviewing the last tea from my recent ESP Emporium purchase. And I’m finally feeling a little better after a horrendous two days of P90X. Yesterday was Yoga, and even though I can’t do half the moves and generally harbor a strong dislike of yoga, it really made me feel better. It stretched out all my sore muscles so that I am actually capable of walking today! Hooray!

On to the tea, this smells luxurious! The dry leaf aroma is pure roses. It’s like I stuck my nose in a giant bouquet and took a deep breath. It’s also slightly perfumey, but mostly it’s a natural rose scent. Mmm, the aroma translates well into the taste. This is definitely genuine rose!

The black tea base is pretty subtle and nondescript. It definitely doesn’t taste like the Orange Pekoe I know. It adds a slightly metallic zing to the taste. I added a tiny splash of milk, but the zing was still there. Then I added an even tinier bit of sweetener. Not enough to make the tea taste sugary, just enough to make it lean towards sweet and distract from that weird metallic zing. Of course, I could also be imagining the zing. I did just eat egg whites with cheese, so maybe my taste buds are compromised.

With sweetener added, it reminds me of a lychee tea. It tastes a lot like honey! But I can tell it’s still rose and that’s just my imagination wandering in search of ways to describe the taste without saying “rose” a hundred times. Oh well, it is a rose tea after all. So, I suppose it’s fine to be a little lacking in the adjective department this morning. Rose rose rose! :P

It’s a little strange to be drinking liquid roses, but I’m really enjoying this! The floral aftertaste is quite lovely, with roses softly lingering on my tongue long after the sip. I feel like I’m sitting in a rose garden in the midst of summer with a light breeze ruffling the rose bushes and birds chirping from branches overhead. Maybe it’s a secret rose garden hidden behind high ivy-covered walls with nothing to give it away save for the lovely scent of roses on the air. Mmm, this is a lovely tea. And now I really want to go watch The Secret Garden. :)

EDIT: I think I probably was imagining that metallic zing. I no longer get that sensation from this tea.

I really love rose-flavored candies and such, so I didn’t hesitate to get some rose black tea when I had the chance. The dry leaves of this tea have a rose scent, but it’s not super powerful. The instant you pour hot water on the tea, however, a much stronger rose aroma is released. The tea brews up with a dark liquor and smells of rose and the Orange Pekoe base. The tea itself is quite lovely… the black tea doesn’t have any traces of bitterness, and it has a pleasant, slightly malty flavor. The rose is well blended with the tea; it neither overpowers it nor fades to the background. This is the flavor of rose water, rose baked goods, rose loukoumi (turkish delight). This tea actually reminds me of Paris as much as Paris tea, eating rose macarons and rose candies from Fauchon. If you’re a fan of rose-flavored foods and drinks, this tea would be a good one to try.