I needed a break from black teas after this morning, so I decided to go for this white tea. Another last minute addition to my Tea Palace samples, this is one of the first relatively additive-free white teas I’ve had. It has rosebuds, true (and lots of shattered rose petals in the leaf), but I have my doubts that they will add too much, since it’s not a true “rose-scented” tea. The dry leaves smell—I’m not joking—like dried leaves. Tree leaves, I guess, like fall. Once I got a whiff of rose in there as well. Besides rosebuds and petals, this blend appears to include rose leaves as well, which is probably where the dried leaf aroma is coming from.
I’m not sure if I trust the steeping instructions on this one (for one, how much is a “dessertspoon” of tea??), and I don’t have a default white steeping setting really. I may have oversteeped this one, but I have plenty to play around with to see how everything changes. The liquor is a dark yellow/light amber, which is darker than I was expecting, and it has a light aroma that’s leafy with a faint rose undertone.
I probably don’t have a subtle enough palate for a tea like this, but I’m enjoying it all the same. I’m getting that leafy note that’s persisted through all phases of this, and a light rose note lingering at the end of the sip. The rose isn’t very sweet, but it’s more of a vegetal rose if that makes sense—not rose candy, actual roses on the bush. As in most cases, I would usually go for a more highly perfumed tea. This one’s good, but it doesn’t quite blow me away.
