Rose Dian Hong Black Tea

A delicious rosy tea – so very floral it surprised me; the second steeping was even better but just as fragrant and flavorful. Like a fancy afternoon dessert.

I saved the leaves to see if this can be resteeped. I am happy to say that I did get another good steep out of it. There is still enough rosy flavor left to recognize. The liquor is a little paler and it isn’t a super dark black tea to begin with, but it wasn’t too terribly light and tasted good. I drank some of it cold because of the miserable heat and humidity we have had.

In other news – (stop reading if you are only interested in the part about tea) – I have performed a chicken experiment. Last year, one of my Black Copper Marans got broody and was very hard to break of it. Living in the city limits, I have no rooster. When she went broody again this year, I decided to give in and let her have babies.

I let her sit on three infertile eggs for over a week. (She had been sitting on stolen eggs or in empty nest boxes for at least a week already.) Then one night just after dark, I slipped the eggs out and slipped some one-day-old baby Cuckoo Marans in. She was pleased as punch to become a mother and it is an absolute miracle to watch how she mothers them. She has a special sound that she makes that I had never heard from her or any other chicken of mine before. It always means that she has found food for them. She lets them eat first, and crushes anything too large. She picks up the food and puts it down to show them what they should eat. She summons them when she thinks they have explored too far. She is patient with their constant shenanigans, like repeatedly pecking her head and eye, practicing “scratching” on her back (then hilariously losing their balance and falling off), and getting under her and then poking their heads out between her wing feathers so she looks like a Gary Larson-esque mutant chicken.

They are just over a month old now and they decided they no longer want to sleep in the maternity ward. They fly onto the ramp of the main coop and get in a nest box with their mother.

I really don’t think I fooled Bluebell in the least. I think she knows she didn’t hatch those babies, but she doesn’t care because she got what she really wanted – to be a mom.

I recently sipped a sample of this and loved it so much I bought 100grams during the sale. I could tell upon opening that this was a different tea from the sample, even though they were both from 2015. The rose fragrance is very prominent in this one, where it wasn’t before in taste or scent. The black tea seems different too. The leaves are larger here unless I’m remembering wrong, but the taste is definitely different though. The flavor is weaker now, like a light milky chocolate, when before the flavor was deeper and more complex – it seemed like it had elements of Keemun, Zheng Shan Ziao Zhong and sweet potatoes, which is why I liked it. I didn’t even mind that the rose was mostly missing from the sample, since the base so good. Now the rose takes over the flavor of the tea. This one seems more like the Yun Nan Dian Hong Full Leaf blend, though I can’t be sure. I’m disappointed it has changed from the 2015 sample! Lowering the rating from a 95.
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // 3-4 min
Harvest: 2015

I made this cup and then didn’t get to drink it because the baby had a meltdown. Now that she’s in bed for the night, I can reheat it and enjoy it. The dry leaf aroma is roses. The brewed tea aroma is the familiar chocolate malt of Chinese black teas. The taste? A perfect combination of the two aromas: roses and chocolate malt. Yum! Now this is my kind of Chinese black tea!

I really like the rose flavoring here. It’s mostly in the front of the aftertaste, which transforms and leaves a lingering cocoa taste. The rose is also very natural and not too potent. Mmm, I really like this tea. As it cools, it gets a little bitter. I definitely should have done a shorter steep. It reheats well though. I think I microwaved this cup two or three times because I kept getting distracted with things and couldn’t finish it all in one sitting. Thanks to Teavivre for the free sample! I will definitely enjoy the rest of this.

My room mate ordered this tea to try a flowered tea for the first time, and damn were we impressed. Full body of a black tea, with the sweet touch of rose. Definitely a good sweet tea to have around the house for when your sweet tooth is calling your name!

Cooking TTB #10

This actually quite tasty! Its a malty tea with a hint of rose which actually works really really well!! This tea is Goldilocks worthy – not too much, not too little.. the rose is just right!!

Cooking TTB #1

Oh boy. This past week was one of the most stressful weeks I’ve endured in quite a while. We are opening a kindergarten program at the school I teach at and my boss wanted the kindergarten rooms to be painted. Five employees volunteered to help out. He told us it had to be finished in a week so he could show the moms during our Christmas party this past Friday. We thought, “No big deal. It’s only two rooms.” …..yeah….well, what he neglected to tell us was that the walls weren’t simply being painted a solid color….they were instead going to be painted with murals of storybooks characters and woodland creatures. Also, we are not artistic by any means and were relying on one particular employee to plan and draw the entire thing on the walls so that all we had to do was fill in spaces with whatever color she handed us. Needless to say, we did not finish because IT WAS AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK. On the last night, we were there painting until 2 am. I literally made no tea during the whole painting experience (though I had some Starbucks and Coffee Bean stuff that others brought). Anyway….it was terrible but the room looks freaking awesome.

This was the first thing I pulled out of the TTB after looking at it for 3 days but not having a single moment to actually make tea. I have really liked all the rose teas I’ve had before, but this one didn’t exactly taste like I had expected it would. I liked it quite a bit more cold, surprisingly. I don’t know that I’d buy this as my go-to rose tea, but I’d never say no to a cup.

TTB #11

Wow, so much rose! From the other reviews, I was expecting the floral flavor to be a bit more subtle, but I found it very strong. It’s a nice, natural rose scent and taste, but just too overwhelming for me. I could see someone who’s really into floral teas LOVING this, however!

From the Cooking TTB.

The dry leaf is long and twisty, and covered with lovely golden dust. A generous amount of whole rose buds are mixed in. The rose scent is powerful and masks any other fragrances.

This is a nicely balanced rose tea. The rose is strong for sure, but I can still taste the sweet, malty notes of the tea itself. I think I would like a bit less rose to tea, but that’s personal taste more than anything lacking in the tea.

If you’re a rose fan, I think this is a really excellent choice.

I’ve been very tired lately. This new late-night work schedule is starting to wear on me… but it’s really nice to be able to be home more with my hubby and baby. AND why is that important to this review? because it is helping keep me in good spirits and to get through some work stuff.

The smell of roses immediately hits you when you open the package. And holy Moses it’s full of rose buds! So cute! And tasty. It’s a light flavor of roses. Or maybe I just didn’t put enough in? Regardless I’m enjoying this cup.