There must, I thought, while I stood here at my desk sniffing this package of tea, be something wrong with the inside of my head.
Flavored teas aren’t really my metier. I’ve been curious about them lately, though, and had enough success with the stuff I got from 52teas that I’ve been somewhat emboldened to branch out, after having been thoroughly chased away from them by Teavana.
Still…pear? All of the pear teas that I’ve tried have been abominable failures. One of them is probably what I would consider my arch enemy, in terms of tea, because I want to like it…I should like it…it initially promises me that I will like it…and then I spend the next quarter of an hour rinsing my mouth and wondering why I can’t learn that it’s horrible.
So, yes. Pear tea. Pear ginger tea.
It’s actually pretty good. I think the leaves are CTC leaf…they don’t have the appearance of pellets, per se, but they are very small and shredded in appearance. The pale yellow petals in the blend are quite pretty.
I think this blend works for me because it’s subtle. The pear flavor is there, but it doesn’t taste like stewed fruit. The ginger is there, but it’s even more subtle than the pear; it’s mostly notable in a gentle warmth that haunts your tongue after you swallow, with the sweetness of the pear just peeking about its edges.
I’m not sure whether or not I would rebuy this. I think it would make a fantastic iced tea, actually…
The good news is that Tao of Tea has a sort of frequent-buyer program. Every dollar spent with them earns you a ‘tea leaf’, and these can be used to buy…more tea. Or teaware. Or anything on their site. It’s pretty nice.
It’s also nice that you can buy their tea by the ounce…I bought a whole slew of 1oz bags of tea. It seems pretty inexpensive, as well.
