TP40: Rose Congou

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Chinese Black Tea, Rose Buds
Flavors
Brown Sugar, Floral, Rose, Flowers, Malt
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Teatotaler
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 45 sec 10 oz / 281 ml

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67 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Oh my friend! Long time no drink!!! Why, I do not know, because Rose Congou is one of the most delightful teas in my stash! Whilst I do of course taste a lovely, musky rose, the most prominent...” Read full tasting note
  • “Tea of the early morning…… It has been a long time since I have had this one. Really, my cupboard is way to deep for comfort. All my favorites end up at the back, and the number of tins are...” Read full tasting note
    91
  • “This poor tea has been pushed to the back of my tea cupboard for far too long. I had forgotten how great and soothing this tea is! What a great tea for a Friday night cuddled up on the couch with...” Read full tasting note
    91
  • “Only enough left for a coupla cups, so I was hoarding for a special occasion. Does Wednesday count? This one is just so good, it makes me smile after every sip. There was a big honkin’ rose petal...” Read full tasting note

From Upton Tea Imports

Quality China black (Congou) tea is fermented with rose blossoms, creating a naturally scented, sweet cup. This tea is occasionally referred to as Lotus Tea, but should not be confused with the flavored tea blend bearing that name.

About Upton Tea Imports View company

Company description not available.

67 Tasting Notes

1112 tasting notes

Oh my friend! Long time no drink!!!

Why, I do not know, because Rose Congou is one of the most delightful teas in my stash! Whilst I do of course taste a lovely, musky rose, the most prominent impressions are Sweet, and Pastry. (How to describe Pastry? Bready and merest hint of vanilla and cinnamon. Maybe nutmeg. Like eating a croissant that was sitting next to a cinnamon bun in the pastry case.).

:)

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Good discription …usually people say they love it without a good taste discription and I’m glad you did that so now I’d like to try it!!

SimplyJenW

Guess what I am drinking, now? You got me with a good reminder about the perfect simplicity of this tea!

Azzrian

Sounds lovely! Not too many Rose teas I have sampled have these flavor components in them!

JacquelineM

Azzrian – I think that’s why I like this one so much. I don’t like the perfumey, lotiony rose ones myself. The added bonus is that it feels like the biggest treat, but it is so reasonably priced.

gmathis

How goes Project October?

JacquelineM

gmathis – we had a breeze this morning! I hardly had to pretend at all!

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91
985 tasting notes

Tea of the early morning……

It has been a long time since I have had this one. Really, my cupboard is way to deep for comfort. All my favorites end up at the back, and the number of tins are getting a bit cumbersome. I either need to open up a tea house, or figure out how to use my tea in alternative ways. I am kidding, of course! Not about the amount, though…… I think I am at the stage in my tea journey where I mostly need to settle in with my favorites.

This is definitely a favorite. It is the perfect balance of China black tea and rose. It is also an incredibly good value at $4 for 125 grams. Love this!

Usual teapot method.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
ScottTeaMan

I’ve always wanted to try this one. Maybe I’ll buy some with my next Upton order. :))

ScottTeaMan

How noticeable is the rose petals?

SimplyJenW

I could always send you some, too. It might help lighten my stash a little. A win-win?

SimplyJenW

I think the rose is light in this one. In Harney’s rose tea, the rose is the main taste. In this one it is tea with a hint of rose.

ScottTeaMan

ok, but what do you like? I’ll try to send you something of mine too! :))

TeaBrat

I liked this too. :)

Dinosara

I feel the same way about my stash! Way too much tea, and I feel like I’ll never get through it.

Uniquity

Ditto on the stash enormity. I now have some teas that I know I have owned for more than 2 years and still haven’t finished – that saddens me. I’ve by and large stopped buying/ordering tea (with a few exceptions) for a long while so I can get through the backlog and use things in a timely manner.

TeaBrat

mine is getting quite large as well… I need to put myself on a budget!

ScottTeaMan

Everybody keeps saying that, but ….hehehehehe…I just ordered a Ceylon from The Tao of Tea. Even as I make a dent in my tea stash, I order more. I really did need a Ceylon, and this one looked really good, AND the price was right. :))

SimpliciTEA

That is a good price!

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91
1015 tasting notes

This poor tea has been pushed to the back of my tea cupboard for far too long. I had forgotten how great and soothing this tea is! What a great tea for a Friday night cuddled up on the couch with my cat and reading The Princess Bride.

Preparation
3 min, 0 sec
SimplyJenW

As you wish! ;)

gmathis

My name is …

ashmanra

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

mpierce87

:)
After finishing the book tonight, I’ll just have to watch the movie again tomorrow.

ashmanra

That movie was the reason my daughter took up fencing, and later was followed in it by her brother. So far the you ger two haven’t tried it, but I am hoping they will. Maybe we need to watch lots of swashbuckling action movies.

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2891 tasting notes

Only enough left for a coupla cups, so I was hoarding for a special occasion. Does Wednesday count?

This one is just so good, it makes me smile after every sip. There was a big honkin’ rose petal in the spoonful this morning, so it’s plenty floral, but not chemically or artificially so.

Thinking this would be a good welcome-to-the-world-of-floral tea for newbies.

teawing

Half way to Friday, works for me.

LiberTEAS

Wednesday is just as good as any occasion to celebrate!

Ellyn

Sounds like a good reason to celebrate!

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3294 tasting notes

I pulled this out of one of the TTBs awhile back, & today I’m polishing it off. It’s a little malty, & the aroma & flavor of Rose is there, however today I noticed that the last sip tasted a little soapy. :p
324

Stephanie

florals are tricky

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92
2816 tasting notes

Just finishing off the last of this sample, courtesy of SimplyJenW

This is such a nice tea for rose lovers – also going on my shopping list for when I place a massive order with Upton (my list keeps growing!)

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
ScottTeaMan

I know I really like this one too!

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91
470 tasting notes

I already have a rose tea that I love, so I’m not exactly sure how this wound up in my Upton order—it was so cheap, I just couldn’t resist! One sniff of the dry leaves and I knew it was a good decision, they smell so delicious. Not really a perfumey rose smell, more earthy. I love floral teas, and rose is my favorite floral scent, so of course I knew right off the bat that I’d enjoy this immensely.

It brews up very dark, and there really wasn’t a ton of rose smell going on so I was a bit worried. And when you first sip, it’s really just a very nice strong, malty, smooth black tea. But I swallowed, my mouth was filled with wonderful rose. Earthy, floral, sweet, delicious! It gets more rose-y as it cools, and I feel like I’ll be making this iced a lot this summer. I like my other rose tea a bit more but this one is just so much more affordable that I will definitely be drinking it regularly.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
TeaBrat

This is very nice!

Alphakitty

I was honestly a bit surprised by how good it is given the cost. Upton’s pricing is pretty fantastic!

momo

This sounds good. I’ve wanted to try a rose tea, so I am definitely going to check this one out!

Dinosara

Which is your other favorite rose tea?

Alphakitty

RoT’s seasonal rose blend. It’s highly perfumed and has a more in-your-face rose flavor. I think objectively the subtle flavors in this one are better, but I personally love perfume-y teas.

Dinosara

Cool, I might have to try that one out. Harney’s Rose Scented is also super intense rose flavor if you haven’t tried it!

Alphakitty

I was planning on stopping by their SoHo store soon, I’ll definitely pick up a few ounces of that! I can never have enough rose tea.

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80
6768 tasting notes

Special Thanks to Alphakitty for this one!

I have tried Rose Congou from two other companies (if I recall correctly) and have found them to be pleasant…here is what I think about Upton’s version…

It’s very warming with a spec of black pepper but more importantly a Medium Strength black tea with a heavy rose flavor on top.

This is pretty good as well as uplifting.

ashmanra

This is a good one!

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81
2201 tasting notes

Rose happens to be one of my favorite flavors, especially when it comes to sweets. It is odd, then, that I only have ever tried one straight up rose black tea, though I often choose teas with it in other blends. Happily, JacquelineM was kind enough to send me a small sample of a couple of rose black teas (even though she got them as samples herself!), this being one of them. Thank you!

The aroma of the rose in the brewed tea is what I consider “herby” rose. While that rose sweetness is still there in part, the overall note is more savory, more… well, herby. I have to say, this is one delicious tea! The main part of the sip is really the black tea itself: warm, thick, a hint of peppery spice. The rose floats above it all and lingers in the aftertaste, but it’s not super strong. Just enough to remind you that you are, indeed, drinking a rose tea. Again, not really a sweet rose; this is not a rose flavor that brings to mind rose candies and sweets. I would have thought that this combination would result in a tea that might have not been quite right for me, but I actually really enjoy it.

Get ready to see a couple more rose teas from me in the upcoming days because I’m going to want to try them in rapid succession for comparison!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
JacquelineM

Yes, the word I use for this one is musky. I love the musky/herby rose this one has! I have real, distilled from rose petals (vs. rose oil added) rose water that has that same musky/herby quality. It makes me weak in the knees!

Dinosara

Yeah, musky definitely works as well! It’s a really cool variant on the rose flavor that I hadn’t experienced until recently.

JacquelineM

I wound up having some this afternoon because I started craving it after writing about it :) :) :)

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89
525 tasting notes

This dry tea smells fantastic. Rose and dark chocolate. From the smell, I was hoping for a cheaper version of my favorite Loashan Black. Not surprisingly, this tea is not on the same level. Not to say that this tea is not delicious, because it is. The flavor is exactly strong enough for a sweet floral rosiness that neither wimps out nor overwhelms. The tea does not taste as chocolatey as it smells, but it is still super yummy. It tasted a bit weak so I let it steep a bit longer than I normally would. I also don’t like to use boiling water so my cooler temp might have something to do with it. This tea does not get bitter or astringent. That is a sign of great quality.

I don’t have much to say about the base tea. It seems to be one of these black teas where I can’t really describe the flavors. Tastes like black tea. Leafy in an autumnal way, very smooth. :) Awesome tea. I can see myself getting more of this, but I still have to get through a bunch of black samples before I decide on which ones I want to stock up on. It can’t too much better than this though!

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