Experience buying from Teavana Online http://steepster.com/places/2822-teavana-online-atlanta-georgia
Age of leaf: No information available on website.
Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: very fluffy and light; a mixture of both moderately sized light-green and dark-green leaves with a light brown leaf mixed in here and there; vegetal, and sweet—like a quality Chinese black tea.
Brewing guidelines: Loose in glass Bodum pot. Stevia added.
……….1st: 170; 1’
……….2nd: 175; 1.5’
……….3rd: 180; 2’
……….4th: 185; 2.5’
Color and aroma of tea liquor: amber, with a yellow/green hue (if that’s possible; maybe it’s just my knowing that this is predominately a green tea).
Flavor of tea liquor: very unusual for a ‘green’ tea; the flavor provided by the black tea leaves seems to take front stage, but there is still a vegetal flavor. Maintained good flavor though four steepings.
Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: Very high quality pluck: lots of whole leaves, buds, and bud sets, with very few pieces; smells vegetal, and dare I say, sour?
Blends well with: I would imagine this to blend well with many standard tasting green and Chinese black teas.
Value: Expensive at full price ($9/oz), but definitely worth buying at Teavana’s 50-75% off sale ($2.25/oz)
Overall: A year ago, when I first encountered this tea, I remember the Teavana salesman telling me that there is about one black leaf per every six green leaves; and now looking more closely at this tea that seems to be true. It is interesting, because the flavor of the black leaves seems to predominate in the taste. For black tea lovers (like myself, albeit a fairly new convert), the strong presence of a quality Chinese black tea in the flavor is definitely good; it seems to be a well balanced tea where the vegetal green tea flavors co-mingle nicely with the sweet/caramel-y notes (which take center stage). My wife did not care for the first two steepings (she is not a big fan of unflavored black teas), but she thought the third steeping was OK. Although this tea did not have a standard green tea flavor profile, I really enjoyed it. It is pretty amazing that this marriage works out, as I brewed it at normal green tea temperatures, which are considerably lower than what a Chinese black normally calls for. Teavana usually discontinues any teas they put on sale, but it looks like they’re keeping this one around. I’m glad, as it’s definitely a keeper.
