Day 14 of the Bird and Blend Advent Calendar – which I put off all the way until January to give a go because I just did not think this sounded like something I’d enjoy. A fan of peach juice I am not, nor of peach teas, so the blend of rose and peach sounded… iffy. Rose can be so hit or miss as well – I’ve had love dalliances with rose flavoured Turkish Delights, and I’ve also gone right off of them for years. I’ve had rose lemonade I loved at first sip – only to find that after several sips more it’s just too much like chewing on a pot pourri posey. I’m not even that big on green teas – yet here was this tea, ready to assail the senses in whatever way it was going to do.
But when I tried it, much to my surprise, I liked it! I’d even say I quite liked it! The peach was so subtle I wouldn’t have even guessed it was there. As I sipped, I forgot all about the peach and all I got was a slightly fruity kind of rose flavour. Couldn’t remember what fruit was supposed to be involved though- even as I sipped and sipped! (“Was it that peach one?” I asked myself. “No, couldn’t be – I’m not a fan of peach, but I could get behind whatever this is!”)
The rose was surprising to me, too. Maybe it depends on the tea scoop each individual gets, but my experience with this one bag was that the rose was present enough to be clearly identifiable as that most identifiable of floral flavours – yet not so overpowering as to make me feel like I was guzzling hand cream or cramming down Turkish Delights. It reminded me of Fentiman’s soda’s Rose Lemonade drink – but without the sweetness or the fizz. The tea felt feminine, and fresh (maybe even “flirty” in a playful-but-sophisticated kind of way – and even I’m cringing that I said that), and I could absolutely imagine hosting some kind of girl’s night where this was on the drinks menu… Which I say whilst being the kind of person who would never be hosting a girl’s night. This wasn’t my grandma’s rose tea, thank goodness, and the rose didn’t linger in my mouth. It was a light and airy tea whose flavours seemed to dissipate almost as soon as I’d swallowed each sip, which I think is maybe more blessing than curse when rose is involved. It fully fit the title of Fairy Dust – I’d say it was even more like Fairy Mist. A spell was cast with every sip, but so fleeting and ethereal that one wasn’t quite sure one saw a thing after a moment or two.
Against all odds, fully prepared not to like this (and the first whiff of the pouch upon opening it really reinforced that expectation – THAT got to the back of my throat, and the peach came through much more strongly in scent!), I thoroughly enjoyed this from start to finish. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it, and if I were gifted a pouch of it, it might only get pulled out once in a blue moon… But I can totally see myself brewing up a cup in a kind of “I deserve nice things” moment while I put on some kind of shamelessly indulgent crap-TV to binge. Because nice things don’t actually have to be THAT nice. It’s probably the feeling people get when they pop open a bottle of cheap champagne or something. I wouldn’t know – my equivalent, apparently, is Fentiman’s Rose Lemonade. Which, I gotta say, is pretty good too. For something hotter and less sweet though, this is a great match.
Flavors: Fruity, Rose
