As I have been drinking a lot of oolongs lately, I felt that
something new was in order for my tastebuds. This flowering tea from
Canton Tea Co caught my eye, and I decided to give it a try. I have
tried quite a few teas from Canton Tea Co, but never any of their green
teas, much less a flowering tea ball. My past experience with flowering tea
balls has told me that the tea is often mediocre in quality, but my
hope is that Canton Tea Co will live up to their high quality, even in
this decorative piece.
The directions say to steep this ball of tea in a
cup of water until the flower blooms. While these may seem like vague
directions, they provide the greatest enjoyment to the drinker, who gets
to see the beautiful opening of the tea ball and the flower that
“blooms” from within. Following these directions, I happily watched as
the ball slowly opened, revealing a red flower in the center with small
white flower buds moving off to either side on non-visible threads.
Purely for the sake of my continued enjoyment, I decanted the tea from
the cup with the flower into another cup, and then poured cold water
over the flowering ball so that it continued to float in bloom.
Extremely interested in the taste, I eagerly tried a
sip of the decanted tea. It is very sweet and thick, owing to the
amaranth and jasmine flowers. The undertones remind me a bit of grain
(not in a bad way), and the information on this tea says that the green
tea contains some nutty flavors. I was certainly not expecting this
flavor from tea, but I am pleasantly surprised, and I quite enjoy it.
Plus, the flowering tea ball still looks very pretty.
This tea was a fun diversion, and it would make a
unique gift, providing visual and taste stimulation for the recipient.
Well done, Canton Tea Co. On my personal enjoyment scale, I rate this
tea an 83/100.
Canton Tea Co's Jewel Flowering Tea is available from their website, here.
This review was unsolicited and uncompensated.
Text is copyright 2015, Built from Ink and Tea.
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