French Friday! This is the tea I pulled from the sampler grabbag from Dustin for today! Thank you, Dustin!
The dry aroma of this tea is reminding me spot-on of the Voulez-Vous? tea I had last Friday — a lemon-lime cream soda, or a very sweet and vanilla/creamy citrus dessert. Brewed 3g of leaf in 350ml 185F water for 3 minutes. (Or at least, that was the plan… I did that thing again where I set the time on the timer but forgot to hit the start button, then when I went to check out much time was left, noticed and just strained at that point, so it could be less or more… oops! Second cup going straight into the “will be too hot to drink for a bit” work thermos will be timed properly, though…)
I am still smelling that lemon cream aroma from the steeped cup, but it is also more floral than the dry leaf. Tasting the tea, the citrus is very obviously bergamot; bergamot is one of those things that can wax differently for me depending on the berg, and this one is leaning closer to that “limon” taste I sometimes get (as opposed to grapefruit or heavily floral). It’s almost an Earl Grey Cream sort of tea, at least in flavor, except the base is far lighter/silkier than the really dark blacks those sorts of teas are usually built on, and there is an underlying florality to the flavor. In fact, the mix of the bergamot and light floral note is reminding me more of the Minnesota N’Ice tea that did very well during my March Mad(Hatter)ness rounds this month (just minus the strong orange component), and looking at the scenting notes on this tea, now I see why; the floral is apparently jasmine. It’s definitely a gentle sort and not the heavy, perfumy, grandma-perfume-in-your-face sort.
It’s a pleasant tea, I imagine it being the sort of profile that would appeal to Earl Grey fans looking for more of an “afternoon” tea or just a lighter/more delicate take than the sort of astrigent/in-your-face black tea/bergamot combos of many Earl Greys. And it held up very well to inconsistent steeping!
Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Citrus Zest, Cream, Floral, Lemon, Lime, Vanilla
