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Hooray for my Art of Tea order coming in!

What I really want to try is the Mandarin Silk oolong (the aroma coming out of the tin is seriously to die for), but my Zojirushi was set to 208 and I’d just had two cups of tea this morning, so I thought I’m probably caffeinated enough as it is, and should probably wait a little bit. Might as well have some of this, right?

I’d wanted to try this since ages ago, when teaplz and Takgoti were ranting and raving about it…but then I ordered this Coco-Loco rooibos from SerendipiTea (it seemed so promising! Many kinds of chocolate! Mmmm!) and…well, scared myself away from rooibos. It had a faint taste of…er…bile. Seriously. :( And given that being nauseous/throwing up/being around people who are throwing up/encountering the odor of any puddles left behind by people who have thrown up/etc. may rank at the top of my very short OMG Can’t Handle It list, my response was a pretty visceral ‘no way, nope, no thanks, never in a million years, thanks for playing, peace out’.

This actually smells pretty good, so I am wary but tentatively hopeful. The scent of it is quite fruity, and actually reminds me of The Cracker Barrel for no immediately-recognizable reason. It’s something to do with the spiced-and-stewed-sweet-fruit thing, I suppose, that makes me think ‘southern country kitchen’.

It’s still VERY hot, but…first impressions are…pretty good, actually. I think I can locate the flavor of the rooibos that sent me running for the hills, but it’s different here, more nutty-woody than woody-sour, and the nice thing is that I don’t have to find it if I don’t want to. I can concentrate as I exhale and get it, but if I don’t care for it…why would I do that?

As the cup is cooling, that woody aspect is a little bit ‘rounder’ in flavor, if that makes any sense — more expansive but also softer, and pretty well tied to the pear flavor, which is strong and delicious. I keep finding myself holding the tea for a moment in my mouth, so I suppose my fear that the cup would lose its ability to cover the rooibos up as it cooled must have been needless!

I really like this. I’m not sure that I would want it every night, but I really have been remiss in seeking out caffeine-free alternatives to tea for the evening, and this one is pretty tasty. The flavor is almost totally stewed/baked pear, but after you swallow you get a tangible, almost tactile sweetness on your tongue that is definitely caramel, though it’s a very gentle sweetness, not cloying or sticky or astringent at all.

Man, I’m so relieved. I was totally not prepared for this to be bile in a can all over again! I think I can totally find a place for this in my cupboard on the reg.