Sipdown no. 49 for the year 2014. A sample. Pear!
I must say that this sipdown business is quite enjoyable. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment. Okay, a small one. But I can use all the feelings of accomplishment I can get. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem to be making a huge dent in my collection yet, but that’s just because for every sample I sip down I find another one I add to the pile. LOL.
In looking back at my first note about this, I see that I said I was confused about this one enough that I wanted to buy another sample when I placed my order. Indeed, that is what came to pass. I placed a mega-order with Golden Moon after doing my initial sample taste-through. Of the 31 samples, I think I bought close to 20 of them in a full size. There were only a couple of GM teas I completely scratched off the list. I can’t remember what those were but think the licorice was one. The rest were in this category-not sure, try again.
So here I go, trying again. Last time around I steeped this in boiling water for 3 minutes. This time I’m going to try it at a slightly lower temperature and a little longer. Teabird quite liked this one judging from her note and she steeped at 205 for 3:15 (she also suggested steeping more than once, which I will try). ifjuly also liked this and used boiling water but went to 4 minutes. The sample packet suggests boiling at 4-5 minutes, but I generally find going more than 4 minutes for black teas is suboptimal. I’m going to try 205 for 4 minutes.
This time around, I am getting much more fruit aroma from the dry leaves. It’s pear-like, in an apply sense. There’s also a fair amount of honey-pollen to the fragrance. I’m getting less floral and more fruit/honey this time around.
The steeped tea’s aroma definitely has a pear scent. I also smell honey, and I note that the first time, I thought the honey dominated. Not so here. The liquor color is, again, a honey color.
The flavor is again, very interesting. Yes, it’s definitely honey pear. But not consistently. Sometimes it’s a little more like apple, sometimes it’s a little more like pollen, and in some sips it is none of the above. I’m getting a little bit of bite in my throat from the tea base, too, which isn’t my favorite sensation.
Second steep: In general, mellower. The flavors do seem to blend together somewhat better this time. I’m getting that waxy mouthfeel I got during my original tasting.
I think what I’m looking for in a pear tea is more an essence of fresh, ripe pears, unmitigated by any other flavors, such as honey.
After giving this a good second run, I’m ready to conclude it isn’t for me. If someone served it to me, I’d drink it and enjoy it, but I don’t see it being something I’d reach for if I kept it in the house. Bumping the rating down a tad to remind me it’s not a reorder for me.
