I feel rough this morning which is probably because I stayed up very late last night to finishing watching Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy. After very little sleep and with a ton of work to do I had to drag myself out of bed with the promise of a pot of tea before anything else.
This is another sample to use up and a strong black tea is what I could really do with right now.
In appearance these little balls consist of black and golden tip leaves that have been rolled together. The golden tips have a beautiful shine and slight felt like feel. I would also like to add that one or two of the 11 pearls that I have contains stalk/stem.
I will be using all 11 pearls in my teapot infuser this morning which will make roughly 4 cups worth of tea. Following the instructions this shall be prepared using boiling water with a steep time of three minutes.
Side Note: I always keep a supply of Teavivre – Fengqing Black Pearl and I compared both those pearls and these pearls together in appearance and could not tell them apart. They are the same size, same quality and scent. They must be from the same supplier.
In appearance this tea is mahogany in colour and has a sweet, woody, malt aroma with elements of cocoa.
The flavour is rich and sweet with thick malt and earthy tones mixed with dark cocoa and a slightly sour after taste. Perhaps a little leathery and smoky too, or aged in a sense.
It tastes exactly the same as Teavivre pearls but of course if your in the UK then it’s easier, quicker and roughly the same price to just buy them from Green Mountain Tea but I still love Teavivre and not trying to take custom away from them. It’s the first time I have samples the same tea from two different sources.
Ahhh! Series hangovers… I’ve had a few of those! How can you stop watching right?
Those pearls are as big as Teavivre’s?
While I’m still young enough (barely) to stay up so late I thought I might as well push my sleep threshold for once. Glad that I did. :)
The pearls are the same size as the ones from Teavivre. They tasted the same, looked the same…I really think they must be from the same supplier. A little strange though considering Teavivre is a very large company and Green Mountain Tea is only very small.
You’re right, it is surprising! I don’t know about you, but those pearls are the biggest I have purchased, the other black pearls I’ve had are much smaller, so it makes sense that they should be from the same provenance if they also taste the same…
I noticed that too. I put it down to either a typo or general lack of knowledge as they are only a very small shop.