Honey & Pear

Another from my box of teas from LiberTeas on teatra.de – WEE!!! The beau and I brewed up a pot of this while watching the last two episodes of Arrested Development. I know we’re behind the times, but oh well. As for the tea, I’m not familiar with or fond of green tea, but this one appeals to me in terms of flavourings. Hojicha is totally new to me but I’m intrigued to give it a shot.

The steeped liquor is a rich honey colour, and has a chickory-esque aroma. Smells faintly woody/nutty but there’s also a sweetness in the aroma. Fairly appealing, and nothing like any green tea I’ve tried. According to my research, that’s no surprise. First sips are surprising. It’s so reminiscent of chickory! It’s got a sort of pseudo chocolate aspect going on too. There is a faint sweetness with a woody almost smoke note as well. Not getting much by way of pear, but I assume the honey is the reason for the sweetness. Another nice one to have tried and I think I might take what’s left of this one to work to finish up. Yum!

Oh this is YUM! Like YUMMMMMMM!

The pear flavor is not particularly strong here, but, I don’t think I’d want it to be more pronounced, because as it is, it is just perfect. The toasty notes of the Houjicha are the strongest flavor of the cup, and I can taste lovely pear and honey flavors coming through.

So very nice. Yummy!!!

Dry – this smells like fruit and a little like sour wood…if that makes sense.

Once infused…
It smells woodsy, nutty, fruity, and like honey.

It’s medium brown in color.

Toasty Houjicha is the primary flavor but both the pear and the honey work wonderfully on the assist! One thing I noticed is that the honey notes are some of the BEST honey notes I have picked up on in a tea to date! The reason they stood up and out to me is because most honey flavors in tea that I have tasted taste old, stale, or artificial. This is sweeter and more natural tasting…almost like honey with sugar. It’s very nice!!!!

Interesting offering…nice cuppa!

Backlog from last night.

I had this one after a few gin and tonics last night. More buttery hojicha but this time mixed with a very faint flavor of pear. The honey was more pronounced. Enjoyed this one too. Nice way to transition away from cocktails at the end of the night.

I had a slow beginning with this tea, but after several attempts (with different times, temps and tea amounts) I have found the right combination. Not the very rounded tsp I use for most teas, rather a leveled tsp. Not the suggested 3-5 minutes, rather 1.5-2 minutes.
I guess my taste buds are just a little different.

Those first couple of cups also helped me get accustomed to the idea of flavored houjicha. I love houjicha, just never considered it as a base for flavored tea. But the flavoring works so well with this tea.

Now I can say that this tea is TOTALLY worth the effort. It’s got the roastiness of the houjicha, and the sweetness of the pear and honey, all blending together for a good cuppa. A unique tea.

In a word: DELICIOUS.

This is enjoyable even though it is less fragrant and less intense flavour-wise than I thought. You know, Lupicia’s blends are always so powerfully fruity/flowery! The houjicha is delicious by itself and the roasted flavour is further enhanced by mildly sweet honey (I really don’t think there’s anything like pear in it). It makes me happy! :)

The honey and pear are mostly in the aroma, and just add an accent to the roasted flavour of the houjicha. This actually works pretty well, and I was really liking this tea by the time I got to the bottom of the cup.

I like it. Its sweet but refreshing. I love the smokiness of the tea in combination with the honey and pear flavours. delicious.