82
drank Bleu Peacock by Mighty Leaf Tea
1737 tasting notes

Mighty Leaf appears to have changed the recipe of its Bleu Peacock oolong blend, as my cylindrical can clearly states that the base tea is Fancy Formosa Oolong from Taiwan (redundant, I know, but they are obviously underscoring its origin), not China. That would make this the bug-bitten Bai Hao, according to Michael Harney in The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea. As someone with a severe aversion to insects, I could have continued on happily in ignorance of that fact, and I imagine that the folks at Mighty Leaf don’t go out of their way to mention it for that reason as well, knowing that many gringos would recoil at the news.

The scent of the dried tea—which appears to be more black than green on the oxidation continuum—is fantastically enticing. It’s another case (like the Republic of Tea Milk Oolong), where I can pop the top off and take a deep sniff and be immediately elevated. Seriously, it’s that appealing!

The problem with such richly scented teas is that they seldom deliver the same level of experience when it comes time to imbibe. This is a good tea though, better than I was expecting. As usual with flavoring-added teas, the second infusion was more about the base tea than the extras. But the base tea is pretty good, so I’ll be doing a third infusion in a bit.

I have been gravitating toward pure teas, but I have to admit that this is pretty nice for a flavored tea! This blend contains vanilla, caramel, and lavender, in addition to jasmine and green tea. So a lot going on. To me it smells rather like chocolate! The flavor seems quite familiar, but I would not identify as vanilla, caramel, lavender, jasmine, or green tea! I’m not really sure what it tastes like.

Aha! I just read on the can that Bleu Peacock is supposed to be reminiscent of chocolate. Mission accomplished!

Flavors: Chocolate

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 295 ML

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Bio

I have fallen off the “tea log boat”, as I am now in New Zealand and was really flailing about for a while, having depleted all of my Chinese and Japanese green tea supply! Fortunately, my first order of 2015 has now arrived! I should begin writing very soon about tea at my new blog, sherapop’s tea leaves. Please stop by and contribute your ideas—all viewpoints are welcome!

A long-time tea and perfume lover, I have recently begun to explore the intersections between the two at my blog: http://salondeparfum-sherapop.blogspot.com//

The scent of tea can be just as appealing as—sometimes more than—its taste! Tea also offers boundless visual beauty in its various forms and states of preparation.

A few words about my ratings. In assessing both teas and perfumes, my evaluation is “all things considered.” Teas do not differ very much in price (relative to perfumes or any luxury items), so I do not usually consider the price when rating a tea.

What I do consider is how the particular tea compares to teas of its own type. So I might give a high rating to a fine herbal infusion even though I would never say that it is my favorite TEA. But if it’s good for what it is, then it deserves a high rating. There is no point in wishing that a chamomile blend was an Assam or a sencha tea!

Any rating below 50 means that I find the liquid less desirable to drink than plain water. I may or may not finish the cup, depending upon how thirsty I am and whether there is another hot beverage or (in summertime) a source of fresh water available.

From 50 to 60 indicates that, while potable, the tea is not one which I would buy or repurchase, if I already made the mistake (I have learned) of purchasing it.

From 60 to 70 means that the tea is drinkable but I have criticisms of some sort, and I probably would not purchase or repurchase the tea as I can think of obvious alternatives which would be better.

From 70 to 80 is a solid brew which I would purchase again.

From 80 to 90 is good stuff, and I probably need to have some ready at hand in my humble abode.

From 90 to 100 is a tea (or infusion) which I have come to depend on and look forward to imbibing again and again—if possible!

If you are interested in perfume, you might like my 2400+ perfume reviews, most of which have been archived at sherapop’s sillage (essentially my perfumelog):

http://sherapop.blogspot.com/

Finally, please note that after a great deal of debate with myself, I have decided to use the cupboard here at Steepster as a “museum” of sorts—to commemorate all of the various teas which I have purchased and truly enjoyed since December 2013.

I do not currently possess all of the teas listed in this cupboard, but am using the function as a way of recording how many times I drank every tea which I did own at some point and wish not to forget. Teas found both in my “cupboard” and on my “wishlist” are those which I did own and intend to restock. Teas best forgotten have been removed from the cupboard once depleted (in some cases tossed…).

I have also decided (beginning in 2015) to use the tasting note function to maintain a chronological record of the teas I’ve consumed since December 15, 2013. Most new reviews will now be posted directly at my blog, sherapop’s tea leaves.

Location

Curio Bay, South Island, New Zealand

Website

http://salondeparfum-sherapop...

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