Similar tea available.
“Thanks to VariaTea for handing off her sample packet of this to me. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this is a tea I don’t believe I have in my cupboard, so it’s always fun to try! Unfortunately,...” Read full tasting note
“Additional notes: Only an 83 rating from me? Psssh. This deserves a much higher rating. I’m raising it. I could hardly find a more delicious pear tea, and the flavor is really holding up. Next...” Read full tasting note
“I think I want this to either go more pear or more of a molasses-like candy. Admittedly I’ve never had a red covered apple- just the cloying, thick caramel covered apples, so I’m probably off in...” Read full tasting note
“At last, a day that I can hang out at home, drink tea, and catch up on life. It’s so nice outside though so I’d love to go for a walk too, but chores and resume editing need to be done first! I’m...” Read full tasting note
Tea of the Week for October 16, 2017!
When I was young, I used to love the candied apples that would come out this time of year. Not the caramel apples – oh, sure, I love caramel apples too – but the apples I’m referring to are the apples that had been dredged in a sticky, unnaturally red, gooey substance and would often be topped with chopped nuts (although I preferred them without the nuts). I would find these candied apples in the produce section of my local grocery store.
These days, I don’t find myself as enthralled by those candied apples as I once was. Perhaps adulthood has changed my palate and made me a little less of a sweet tooth – although I do still have a sweet tooth – but I’d rather have apple slices drizzled with salted caramel than one of those weird, alien-red-colored, candied apples.
I’m not exactly sure why I told you all that, except to say that while I do love apples, I prefer pears. (Although my weekly shopping cart wouldn’t reveal that because usually what I’m buying are apples.) And I remember as a sweet-loving kid wondering why they didn’t dip pears into that red goo and make candied pears? I would have used every penny from my paper route to buy up all of them if they made such a thing.
This week’s tea is a tribute of sorts to my idea of a candied pear. Sweet, succulent pear dipped in a sweet candy syrup-y concoction that would create a sticky, gooey shell over the pear. No nuts – just pear and sweet sticky goodness.
I started with a lovely Bai Mu Dan base and added pears and a sweet candy essence to create this tea – and it tastes just as I imagined a candied pear would taste! The pear flavor is well-defined and that pear tastes as though it’s been candied. YUM!
Hey – after I typed all this out, I did a google search to see if such a thing as a red, candied pear existed. Check out this recipe from Rachel Ray! I had no idea that the red stuff was pomegranate!
ingredients: white tea
organic ingredients: pear, calendula petals & natural flavors
At 52teas.com, you will find unique, hand-blended artisan loose leaf teas: a new limited edition creation every week of the year. We pride ourselves on offering truly unique, one-of-a-kind tea blends that you won’t find anywhere else.
Thanks to VariaTea for handing off her sample packet of this to me. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this is a tea I don’t believe I have in my cupboard, so it’s always fun to try! Unfortunately, it ended up being fairly forgettable – white tea base, but really didn’t pick up anything else. Next time, I’ll try changing up the brewing parameters to see if I can get anywhere.
Additional notes: Only an 83 rating from me? Psssh. This deserves a much higher rating. I’m raising it. I could hardly find a more delicious pear tea, and the flavor is really holding up. Next time it will be gone. Maybe I didn’t use two teaspoons last time or something. I probably steeped it wrong somehow. So many actual little pieces of pear! Who actually puts pear in tea? Probably only 52Teas. Your teas are being appreciated in these times, Anne — hope you and yours are doing okay.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons // 29 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // TBA
2020 Sipdowns: 28 (52Teas – Frank’s Ginger Pumpkin Cheesecake Honeybush)
@tea-sipper – thank you. I’m doing my best to do the social distancing thing – we only go out maybe once a week or so to gather necessities. Although last night while preparing dinner, I burnt my hand severely – so – there’s that. It’s not very easy to do – well – anything at all with my hand burned and blistered. But I could be far worse – like so many others are. Thank you very much for the kind words. :) Please take care of yourself – anyone who happens to be reading this! Stay safe and take care!
Ouch – not good for tea blending. I hope your hand heals quickly!
@tea-sipper: it’s actually healing quite nicely. The first 24 hours were terribly painful. It still hurts and I can’t grip things with my right hand – fortunately I am left-handed. While there are still things that I’m not able to do without pain (so therefore I won’t do it) – it’s healing quickly. :)
Oh good. :D
I think I want this to either go more pear or more of a molasses-like candy. Admittedly I’ve never had a red covered apple- just the cloying, thick caramel covered apples, so I’m probably off in my own imaginings.
The flavouring and tea base are both light and subtle, creating a delicate cup that’s suitable for a nice pre-spring day. The delicate, crystallized sweetness is a refreshing cup for prep gardening (read as watching juncos and listening to chickadees outside while other people do some edging). Glad I saved the dregs of this for a timely change in season.
Flavors: Cucumber, Grass, Melon, Pear, Sugar
At last, a day that I can hang out at home, drink tea, and catch up on life. It’s so nice outside though so I’d love to go for a walk too, but chores and resume editing need to be done first!
I’m glad I got a sample size to try since pear and tea tend to be a beautiful combination, but alas, this has not been my favourite 52teas blend. I can barely taste any pear, just a vague fruity sweetness in the background, as the base tends to take over. The base is also earthier than expected, especially with my last cup which had more leaf than the previous two.
I should be doing research. I am. Except instead of researching Criminal Law, I may have been researching recipes on Pinterest. Oops. However, it led me to this gem of a recipe: https://www.ohhowcivilized.com/the-very-best-earl-grey-hot-chocolate-recipe/ which I made. I am only starting to branch out with my Earl Grey teas but this is certainly a good way to use them.
Now I have moved on to this tea. Trying to drink my older blends since I realized yesterday that only 33% of my teas are less than a year old. That is bad. Very bad. So my focus is on older blends. Even though this is older, it is still good. Sweet. Fruity. Subtle fruit, like pear. It’s a good one and the white tea base pairs really nicely with the pear flavor.
This is last week’s Tea of the Week – last night, I brewed a pitcher full of it to stash in the fridge for iced tea today. This is fantastic as an iced tea but I think I do prefer it as a hot tea. As a hot tea, it tastes very much like what I’d expect a candied pear to taste like. As an iced tea, I taste more candy than I do pear – but the white tea comes through really nicely as an iced tea. Very soft and sweet.
