Kashmir Rose

I knew I had to try this tea when I first saw it. I love cardamom and roses so it was definitely calling my name!

I steeped this for 3 minutes at 212 F. I may have accidentally used too much leaf because it seems very strong (but yummy). The rose is very prominent in this blend, at first I thought maybe it was too much but as the cup is cooling off I like it more. The cardamom you pick up more so in the finish. The base of this tea is a rose congou, which I’ve never had before but now I’m inspired to try the plain rose congou, evidently it is fermented with rose petals. Doesn’t that sound a bit indulgent? I love it. hee hee.

Anyway I thought this was lovely, with a touch of soymilk. It got very dark and rich with both a floral and spicy aroma. But it is definitely strong on both the rose and the cardamom so if you’re leery of either of these things you’d better steer clear of this one.

I did manage to get a second steep out of it, still good although quite a bit milder…

This has been one of my favorite teas in my stash since I first found it (I think that was in the middle or late-middle of last year). I could review this without having just had a pot of it, but I just had a pot and wanted to log this before making another pot.

I brew it in my pot with with boiling water for 5 minutes. Of course, as time goes on (it takes an hour to 3 or even 4 hours for me to drink a pot because I enjoy it slowly), the flavor changes. At first, the rose and the cardamom stand out separately, and the tea has a kind of kick, like it has black pepper in it (it apparently doesn’t). The flavors do tend to blend after a while, and it keeps the kick. After blending, it tastes spicily floral with a nice kick (it keeps the kick all the way through). I like it the whole way through, but YMMV. It isn’t what I’d call sweet, by the way.

I’ll get off now and have another pot. I sometimes like to listen to Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” while drinking it. Heh. That’s fun.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not even sure this is the right tea. I found it at a local cafe that had made up little samples of loose tea for stocking stuffers. All it came with was a label for “Rose Congou.” I looked up teas companies that the store carried and this one was the only that matched.

Onto the tasting note…

I have finally figured out what a “floral” note means. And this did smell like roses. I thought that was going to be a problem, but on the whole, it was actually good. The black tea seemed to be lighter with the rose in it. I’m tempted to try it with some sugar on the next cup.

All in all, pretty good for a mystery sample!

Very nice blend. Two of my favorite scents and flavors. I really like this one