Honeydew

A while back, the husband and I got a food dehydrator to make jerky. (The husband makes seriously awesome venison jerky.) When we first got it, we went a little dehydrator-crazy. If it was edible, we’d try to dehydrate it. Some of our experiments were more successful than others (I highly suggest dehydrated zucchini slices – they are potato-chip-level addictive.) But I knew we had gone too far when we dehydrated watermelon.

The dried watermelon bits were textured like Fruit Roll-Ups (which wasn’t bad) but the taste… it was melon and slightly sweet and very musky. I cannot adequately explain how musky it was. “Extremely” would be an understatement. It was perhaps how licking a male muskox would taste. Obviously, this was very weird to me and I found eating the dried watermelon distracting and unpleasant. After that experience, I decided to retreat back into dehydrating only jerky and zucchini and never think of the watermelon musk disaster again.

Until I drank this tea.

This is byfar the truest honeydew flavored tea, honeydew flavored anything, I have tried. A gold star to Teas Etc for hitting this right on the mark. The white tea is the perfect pairing for the light honeydew flavor. I enjoy the lightness this tea has.

Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 2 zarafina cups filtered water
Tool: Zarafina white-loose-medium
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: like honeydew milk boba tea
Steeped Tea Smell: vegetal, like honeydew milk boba tea, flowery
Flavor: slightly bitter, astringent but melon
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: bitter
Liquor: translucent light orange

I should try a mild steep and / or less leaf next time.

The tea came in a black plastic sealed bag inside the tin. When I dumped it into the tin I noticed a pollen like fluffy residue in the bag. I wonder if this is a white tea attribute?

Post-Steep Additives: none, but was thinking about some sugar

Resteep: just as strong as the first steep

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/04/teas-etc-loose-leaf-white-tea-honeydew.html

I think this tea has helped me realize that I’m not the biggest fan of hot white teas. They’re fine, but not my favorites. I really like some of them iced, but I don’t think that I’ll be going out of my way to sample more (or if I do, then it will be as an iced tea).

I’ve also realized that I’m not a big fan of melon flavor in teas. They just seem extra “musky” to me and I only enjoy melons when they’re sweet. I might have a different feeling about melon tea if I added sweetner, but I’d rather do tea straight up.

Overall it’s probably a decent melon white tea, but it’s not for me. M

This is….interesting. It’s not so much “honeydew” as it is asparagus! :O It’s a very “vegetal” tasting tea. And, in the beginning, the vegetable flavor is very potent. But as the liquid cools, notes of white flowers and (finally!) melon emerge. The scent, upon cool down, reminds me of melon chewing gum! In some Korean restaurants around here, they give you sticks of melon-flavored gum with the check after the meal. And the scent is exactly like that!

So, honestly, I kind of like this…but not really. It was good to try as a sample though!

This was a free sample from Teas Etc.

Leaves are green and finely chopped. The Honeydew aroma is strong both before and after brewing. Brewed, it tasted like Honeydew melon. The tea provides the dark-gold color. If you want a honeydew drink, this might be it, but as a tea, as a coworker commented, a waste of good water.

Strong melon aroma when opening the bag, almost like Pop Rocks! Awesome taste, not too light, not too strong. :)