Sipdown (143/150)!
So I took this and a Strawberry Bloom out of the SSTTB for later use; I have had both before, but I really wanted to try them again to see how they compare with my memories of them. I’m also like 95% sure that it was VariaTEA who added them to the box, and that’s who I got them from the first time around, too…
I actually cold brewed this one, and then took it to work. I decided to focus entirely on the taste of it, and not just the aesthetics since, of the peach, strawberry, and lychee blooms, this is the one I thought had the most interesting/distinct flavour the first round I had them.
This time around, I thought it was a much more juicy/plump lychee flavour with subtle floral notes and a milder black base in the background, which is definitely different than what stands out from my first experience (malt and chocolate notes). And of the two, I think I definitely prefer the cold brewed version. I like lychee, and this way was significantly more lychee flavoured.
I’m done with this bloom though; I don’t really feel a need to have it again. I did enjoy it, though. Obviously.
Flavors: Floral, Lychee
I wish I had a clear teapot to make use of bloom teas. The only one I actually own (I know – just one teapot…) is one I made for myself, as part of an art course (it’s fully functional). Bloom teas seem like such a waste when you can’t actually see them…
Yeah, they are usually not bad flavor wise but definitely not worth buying unless you can enjoy their blooming. Also it is quite cool that you made your own teapot.
The town I moved from had a traditional styled English Tea House that was only a block and a half from my house, however at the point of my moving I was not heavily into to so I’d only been there a few times (three, I think?) despite having lived next to it for nearly ten years. Two of the times I was there I just got peppermint tea, but one of the times I got a pot of bloom tea (I can’t remember what it was called, though) and it was just beautiful and I remember it tasting great, though I’m sure my pallet is much more different now… When I go back up in January for late Christmas I’m going to make the effort to stop there, now that I know I’ll appreciate it more.
You can use a canning jar. Not as pretty, but it works!