Hooghly Holler

It has been a loooong time since I had this one. I remembered liking it pretty well. It was the first tea of tea party today. Today was a special tea party day because we were celebrating youngest daughter’s birthday! We had butter cake with boiled chocolate frosting and ice cream and cookies.

I used boiling water but only a three minute steep because I couldn’t quite remember how I made this in the past and I thought I remembered it needing a shorter steep time than many of our black teas.

This tea smells like a great berry tea, and the first two cups we had were awesome. The tea was smooth and the berry flavors were fresh and sweet. After we had finished trying all three of our teas today I went back to this one for another cup.

Oh dear! It really got astringent as it cooled! I tried reheating it and that helped a little.

This isn’t a bad tea, but be sure to drink it fast! It takes a nasty turn if it sits too long.

Dry the leaves smell wonderful, so fresh and floral and fragrant. Pretty too, with different colored dried bits. Brews up a dark brown. Freshly brewed it smells of vanilla and flowers, really lovely. Rather sweet right off the bat. It tastes relatively gentle, especially as it cools, but that fits the feminine vibe of it. Feels like the equivalent of strolling around a French-y girly garden full of flowers.