Celestial Temple Peaks

My son Drew & I stopped by Teavana today to get some more Black Dragon Pearl. While there, I smelled all of the new blends. Most of them are too fruity & acidic smelling for my taste, but there were a few that I’ll think about. Meanwhile, they’re having a special: spend $50 & you get 2 oz of one of the discontinued teas. So I got 4 oz of Black Dragon Pearl & 2 oz of Kamaya Papaya, which I remember liking before. I also got 2 pretty canisters because they caught my eye. For my free tea, they had a bag full of already bagged options, and I picked the Celestial Temple Peaks because it’s pretty (skinny little twisties of gold, black, gray, & various shades in between) & because it smells good. Also, the other choices were mostly flavored & didn’t appeal to me.

Steeped, this is an appealing, honey colored tea, with a hint of honey in the taste & a mild maltiness. It’s not the deep & dark kind of malt & chocolate tinged tea that I go for in the morning, but it’s a pleasing cup, & I am pleased to have it!

This is my favorite black tea right now! Its light, with lots of honey notes. Adding a few drops of honey brings out those honey notes even more! Its slightly astringent, but the lingering caramel notes it leaves on my tongue balance things out nicely!

I ended up picking up some of this tea cuz it was 30% off, and am pleasantly surprised! It’s not an in your face kind of tea…mild and honeyish, it reminds me of golden tip Dian hong tea. Of course nowhere near the complexity of my remaining Golden Fleece, but also a tea I don’t have to ponder over, which is a nice change! I’d say that there is at least 6 oz in the tin, so ill have this for a while!

Brewed western style, 1 heaping teaspoon for 8oz water, steeped 2.5 mins. Will be trying resteeps soon, lets see how it holds up, and if there are any changes in character!

I was very surprised that this one wasn’t already listed! This was another tea sent by the generous PurrfectCup! Thank you!

This is a very smooth and mild tea with honey notes. It is more similar to Harney and Sons Golden Monkey than to Teavana’s, but there is a family resemblance between the two teas. I find this one to be milder. It is lovely as an afternoon tea, either by itself or with biscuits. I don’t see this as a breakfast tea, though. I wold carry the cup back to bed with me! LOL! Fortunately, we were having it in the afternoon! I plan to try a resteep.

A true mother of all teas! Probably the first of bushes to be made into tea, and very ancient. A sip and much more will yield the history of every leaf, every nutrients, every seasons, throughout the most of bountiful of seasons to the harshest…its much like a journey throughout the many eras of life! Its all thanks being picked from the same shrubs that produces Pu-Erh which supposedly have deep and encompassing roots that imparts many flavors around its growth! Its much like Assam reincarnated but with hints of pepper, a bit leathery and chocolaty like Pu-Erh which a combination of the two really goes well for a cuppa and served alone. A true testament to tea and flavors that reflects the ages!

good black tea. nothing complex. just black tea…the way i like it.

I wanted to like this tea, but in the end I found it somewhat boring. It is a smooth black tea with definite honey notes, but very little depth besides that. The tea I drank before this was Golden Monkey and compared to that, it does seem somewhat bland. The price (especially on sale) was very reasonable though and perhaps that is some of the appeal. If you like the sweetness a bit of honey does accentuate the flavor and turn it into a lovely post-dinner dessert tea. If you want more complexity and to get more of the natural flavor, leave the sweetener out though.

I tend to drink my Black teas without sugar, but this really needed it. With a half spoon full of honey, this tea was rather good. I’m not sure why the flavor didn’t appeal to me- I think I over steeped it most of the time

This tea really didn’t do anything for me. Its not bad but its just weak and not very flavorful.

This is my all time favorite black tea. It is mild and sweet, and you really can taste honey notes in it. I take this with me to all of my evening seminar classes.