Pear Luna

Backlog 8/10

This is another from Michelle! Thanks!

This one is super quick but it’s really gross and chemically and I dumped it after two sips. Ewie.

On a side note it’s way easier to make quick tasting notes for teas you absolutely hated!

I got a sample of this one from a friend. Tonight I was craving something new and white, so out it came and into the pot. Dry it smells amazing, all peach and pear and just the type of scent I adore and that almost always lures me into buying a tea.

Brewed, this tea loses so much. There wasn’t nearly as strong of a scent, either of tea or of fruit. Taste wise, when sipped straight, there was very little flavour here. I could definitely taste the tea itself, however it wasn’t anything spectacular. Knowing that Teavana’s teas usually work better with sweetener, I added a little sugar. Still, blah, I tried a little more. Here I finally found the fruit flavour, but it was still understated and extremely dupeable. Overall this one is pretty unmemorable, and I can definitely understand why it was discontinued.

Backlog#5
Yikes, some dodgy reviews here!! I didn’t think it was so bad, maybe my buds were off again??
or perhaps they did give me the second steeping after all. I was chatting with the girl who served me and she agreed that a second steeping is always better… (well, except in Indian black teas I find)
I found the white part to be pretty standard, good quality… and the pear was quite nice. Juicy without taking over the cup.
Is it possible I had a different “White pear” tea?? I asked for the least flavoured non straight white tea they had, and this was the recommendation. They did a pretty good job of hitting what I asked for. Hmmm.
Oh and $5 for the cup! Seriously? I didn’t see any prices listed but never thought anything of it, until the shop girl gave me the total. not cool :/

Yikes, some nasty reviews here! I actually quite like it. It’s light and fruity… 1.5 tsp and steeped for 2 minutes. It’s not tart and I haven’t added anything to it. As with all of teavana’s tea’s it smells amazing. It’s got a light pear taste to it but I can definitely taste the white tea behind it. White tea’s are generally very soft, and this one has more flavour than most i’ve tried. I would have this again.

I have to admit. This is a guilty pleasure. I know, I know. People aren’t really fans of this tea, but I like it. I almost didn’t review it here, but for the sake of transparency, I thought I’d be real.

I use to shop at Teavana, until the hole they were burning in my pocket got too big and I smartened up. Every now and then when I’m on the road I’ll stop in if I have no other place to restock my tea supplies. For the most part I’m not a big fan of their products. But this isn’t a review of Teavana.

When I was just wetting my feet in the tea world, Pear Luna was one of my side teas; a little afternoon or early evening indulgence. There’s a lot of overt stuff going on with this tea and you can get quite a few steepings for your leaf. Honestly I haven’t drank it in a while so I’m afraid I can’t offer more detail. I remember the strong fruity/floral scent both dry and brewed, the rose and pear, or was it the peach? Now more familiar with white teas, I don’t recall any of that flavor. I’m pretty sure it was overwhelmed by all the other business going on.

Take care the water is not too hot. Instructions call for 175 °F. Hotter temps I found led to more bitter astringency. It can be overbrewed, so I erred on the side of a shorter steep. Anything over 2 minutes and I think you’re in trouble. This is not a tea you just want to pour boiling water over.

The dried fruit has some sugar in it already, so beware. However, a little agave or rock sugar can make this tea quite satisfying. With sweetener or without, this is a big, silly, flowery tea. Not much subtlety about it.

Don’t go into it with your expectations too high. Play around with cooler temps and shorter steeping time and you might just like it!

Bought this one during my recent splurge at Teavana, somewhat against my better judgement. I’m not really a huge fan of heavily flavored, heavily sweet teas unless they’re strictly intended to be served over ice, and even then I don’t like them too sweet…fruity and sweet are not mutually inclusive qualities. The guy who works at my ‘local’ Teavana is friendly and helpful, but I think our tastes differ. Most of the tins he opened for me made me feel as though I was being bludgeoned to death by a hammer made of fruit-sugar…and not necessarily natural fruit (or sugar) either. All of this while I was sick and congested! It may be that some of those don’t taste as strongly as they smell, certainly, but I was too wary to find out.

I caved on this one. He seemed to believe it wasn’t as intensely fruity as it smelled, and I wanted a white tea…pears, I thought, would surely not be that strongly represented after brewing. They, like blueberries, can usually be counted on to be subtle when used in foods and the like, right?

Ehhhh. I’ve been avoiding it because of the smell since I bought it — never a good sign — and finally decided to give it a try tonight while waiting for something in the oven to finish up. It tastes more or less like it smells — less strongly, though, which is a blessing — with a stronger sense of the white tea. If you go crazy for the smell of it, then you’ll probably go crazy for it in your cup. I can see adding this to some sort of pitcher concoction destined to be served over ice, but by itself it might be a little bit boring iced, and I can think of a bunch of other iced teas I’d rather be drinking.

For the cost per cup and how utterly ‘meh’ I am about it, I should probably be rating it lower than I am…but I think in this case much of the lack of appeal has to do with what I like in a cup of tea, and not necessarily how offensive the tea itself is. Now I have to figure out what to do with the amount I have left.

I had this tea this morning in my travel mug in the office this morning. For a white tea, this is a surprisingly strong tea. The smell of the dry leaves makes me sneeze. But I really like the texture of this tea. It is rather astringent….but not in a bad way.

I’ve just never really enjoyed this tea, despite the lovely scent. It’s just always been a bit anemic and boring to me. So it’s been sitting in the back of my cupboard for about 2 years now, getting no love whatsoever.

Now, however, I’m on an iced tea kick, and trying to creatively use up my old stash.. I mixed it with a blend of Teavana’s jasmine pearls and rooibos tropica. I like it more this way. The flavor does come through a bit, and it adds some complexity to the dominant flavors of the other two.

Still not one of my favorites, as I don’t necessarily want to HAVE to blend my teas to enjoy them, but if you have some sitting around, try it iced!

I wanted a tea that I could drink at night to unwind and fall asleep after drinking. The girl at the store swore by this one, but I’m not digging it. It’s a strong flavor, but it doesn’t seem to be pear flavored. It smells great, but it doesn’t taste that way. I mixed it with Body + Mind and it’s drinkable, just not something I will be buy again.

I asked for a comforting nighttime tea and was recommended Pear Luna, but I’m a little disappointed. The pear flavor is very strong and a little bitter. It definitely smells better than it tastes. I will finish what I have, but would not repurchase.

Smells really sweet, smells like dried pear with a trace of flowers. Loved the smell but the flavor was less then appealing. When the tea is very hot it was ok (eh), but as it cools the taste becomes more bitter and artificial. I wouldn’t buy again.

This tea came highly recommended to me by the sales people of teavana. They said that this tea is great because of the multiple infusion that it produces. Now this is my first white tea. So I am extra careful. I put about two teaspoons in my 16 oz pot and I prepare myself for greatness.. Meh. Its not that great. It has a strange taste I like at first but it grows to a bitter after taste. The second infusion is a bit better but its still ugh. However not wanting this tea to go to waste I blended it with a pinapple kon pop that I had… It gave it a subtle flavor boost. By itself the tea is gross but burned its pretty good … Well its pretty meh.

I dont much care for this one. I was hoping for it to be good because I liked the way it smelled but it tastes like teas you would drink at asian restaurants. It’s drinkable, but after it’s gone, I am not going to repurchase it.

Trying this for the first time. Just bought it tonight!

I wanted to like this tea. It smelled lovely in the store, and I love pear…but I didn’t like the flavor at all. It tasted odd, sort of dirty and unpleasant. No one else in my house liked the taste of it either.

Mild and fruity but tastes a little artificial. Never what you want from a tea.

Needed to relax. Trying to write a paper and stress don’t go well together.

…I don’t know if I’ll ever give a tea a thumbs down. This one might be a thumbs sideways though. I like this tea overall, but it was a little too fruity for me personally. There was too much flower and fruit and not enough tea. If you like fruity and soothing mild tea though, I would recommend this.