Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Shanti Tea
Tea Description:
Delicate white tea with a light pear fragrance.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Fujian Pear White Tea Blend from Shanti Tea is easily one of the best tasting pear teas I’ve had the opportunity to sample. It’s sweet, juicy and very much like a ripe, delicious pear.
The white tea base is subtle and is a delightful “pear” for the delicate notes of the fruit. (Please excuse the “pun” … I couldn’t resist!) The white tea allows the softer nuances of the pear to come through and be tasted. The tea is gentle tasting, smooth and earthy.
And the pear has a very authentic, true-to-the-fruit flavor. Based on my experience as a tea reviewer as well as my experience as a tea artist, I know that the true flavor of pear is a difficult flavor to capture. It doesn’t always end up tasting “just right.” It usually ends up tasting either so sweet that it’s cloying and confectionery, or it’s so subtle that when combined with the tea, the pear notes just don’t come through in a way that it is undoubtedly pear.
But Shanti has managed to bring out the flavor of pear without sacrificing the flavor of the tea! It’s a well-crafted balance. I like this served hot best, I find that as the tea cooled, the tea notes softened somewhat and that aforementioned balance is thrown off just a bit. It’s still quite good cold, but, much tastier hot!
An exceptional pear flavored tea!
BetTEA’s Blend Tisane from 52Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush & Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
My friend Betty here was kind enough to help me out with creating this week’s tea of the week, because I think my brain went on strike.
Well, she said she wanted something fruity, something light and refreshing and something calming. Bit of a tall order, but I think y’all will agree that we hammered out the perfect answer.
BetTEA’s Blend is a honeybush base with mostly organic pear flavors, with just a hint of vanilla, an even smaller hint of chamomile and some blue cornflowers to make it pretty. I have a feeling this one is going to go fast.
Learn more about BetTEA’s Blend here.
Learn more about Zoomdweebie’s fundraising campaign to reopen the Tea Bar here.
Taster’s Review:
This BetTEA’s Blend Tisane from 52Teas is a blend of honeybush and chamomile that has been flavored with pear and vanilla … and I wasn’t all that excited about it, to be honest with you.
While I have enjoyed many of Frank’s honeybush blends, I just tend to be sort of indifferent about blends with chamomile in them. I’m still not exactly sure why, because when the whole bud of the chamomile flower is used – rather than the crushed up flowers like you’ll find in those grocery store tea bags – I actually like chamomile alright.
And I do like how well the chamomile and honeybush work together … the fruit-like notes of chamomile meld nicely with the sweet, nutty notes of the honeybush. So, I’m not sure exactly why I was reluctant to try it … but, despite that reluctance … I have to admit that this is actually kind of tasty. The pear notes are accentuated by the natural apple-y tones of the chamomile to provide a pleasing fruit note. Then there is a light creaminess from the vanilla – sweet and smooth. And honeybush adds a sweet, honey-like flavor and a nutty background that marries well with the other flavors.
It is a calming cuppa … nice to drink later at night when I’m not wanting to be overstimulated but I still want something warm and comforting to drink. It’s alright … not my favorite tisane … but I still enjoyed it, and would be happy to drink it again.
PS: Don’t forget to check out the campaign to reopen Zoomdweebies! And what is Zoomdweebies, you ask? Find out here!
Southern Boy Teas Pear Flavored Black Iced Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Premium Organic black tea with organic flavors. Each 14g teabag will make one 2-quart pitcher of DELICIOUS iced tea. Re-steep the teabag and you can get a full gallon out of each one.
Ingredients: Premium Organic Black Teas, Organic Flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I brewed this Pear flavored black iced tea from the Southern Boy Teas collection from 52Teas the same way I’ve been brewing the other iced teas from SBT – cold brewing! I love cold brewing tea. It’s just so easy: just fill a half gallon pitcher full of freshly filtered water, add the tea pouch, cover the pitcher, and then let it sit in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I have a half a gallon of delicious, refreshing iced tea.
But to get the most out of these tea bags … I’ve also been resteeping the pouch a second time. For the second infusion, I’ve been hot-brewing the tea – using 1 quart of boiling water and letting the tea steep for five minutes, and then steeping another 1 quart of boiling water for six minutes. The second half-gallon pitcher is not quite as strongly flavored as the first, but, I still enjoy it … and in the case of this Pear flavored black tea, I think I like the second half-gallon better than the cold-brewed half-gallon because it is not as strongly flavored.
The cold-brewed iced tea – the first infusion – was a pleasant enough tea. It tasted just fine. But, the pear essence was a little … off for me. It tasted like pear … but the fragrance was more like … a pear scented candle or a pear scented bar of soap than like something that I’d eat or drink. It had that kind of “fragrance-y” scent … like a body spray or a fruity perfume. It didn’t taste like that … but the aroma made it smell like that … so it wasn’t as pleasant an experience to drink when I found this perfume-y scent every time I lifted the glass to my lips.
But with the second infusion, the scent has subsided, and I find myself enjoying the flavors much more this time around. The pear is sweet and juicy tasting, while the black tea flavor is the dominant taste in the drink. This is sweet, tasty and very thirst-quenching. Nice.
Pear Mountain (Li Shan) Oolong Tea from Boutique Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Boutique Teas
Tea Description:
Grown on the highest mountain ranges in Taiwan, Pear Mountain oolong is a lightly oxidized rolled oolong. It brews a light liquid with floral notes and a sweet butter cream finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Pear Mountain (Li Shan) Oolong Tea from Boutique Teas is really delightful!
The aroma of the dry leaf is soft and floral with hints of vegetation. I found the brewed tea to be more fragrant than the dry leaf, the floral notes are very distinct now, although I wouldn’t call them overwhelming or even “strong” … but they do make themselves very obvious to the nose.
As with most Oolongs, I took this one through several infusions, brewing the tea in my gaiwan and combining two infusions in one cup. My first cup (the combination of infusions one and two) is very light in body and taste. The floral notes are sharp but subtle. The finish is soft and smooth. This first cup is a very delicate tasting cup, but, don’t let that scare you off! If you take this tea through its paces, you’ll be rewarded with the next few infusions, I promise you!
My second cup (infusions three and four) offered a stronger flavor than the first, with more pronounced floral notes, and even a hint of fruit in the background. This cup is not as soft but just as sweet as the first cup … perhaps sweeter because the flavors are more defined now. The astringency here is very light … lighter than the first cup.
My third cup (infusions five and six) was almost as equally as strong as the second cup, but the flavors seemed to meld together better with this cup. The floral notes were not quite as sharp and distinguished, and the sweet fruit notes in the background came forward a little more. I tasted a thin, flowery, honey-like sweetness that was quite enjoyable in this cup.
I liked this Oolong quite a bit … I liked the way the dimensions of flavor revealed themselves slowly, in their own time, so that each layer of flavor could be recognized and enjoyed. Another great tea from Boutique Teas!
Bao Zhong from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pouchong, Oolong
Where to Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
The Bao Zhong tea’s hand-picked, long, twisted pouchong tea leaves are slightly oxidized, brewing a fresh, jade-colored infusion with delicate notes of lilac and pear.
IngredientsOrganic Oolong Loose-Leaf Tea, Bao Zhong Tea, Pouchong Tea
CharacteristicsRefreshing, Organic, Unblended
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love a good pouchong and Bao Zhong from The Persimmon Tree fits this craving I am having! Its even better because it is organic!
The Persimmon Tree is dedicated to providing fair trade, organic, loose leaf teas. See more information about that here.
When I was young we had white lilac bushes growing between my home and my neighbor’s home. They were so beautiful and oh so fragrant. This tea takes me back to those years.
The floral after taste is lovely, light, and lingering. It makes me feel as though I have a vase full of flowers right next to me. The pear note is really quite light and I am not sure that I detect it as well as I could but it does have a very naturally sweet note with the littlest bit of a tang from the pear note.
What I love is that there is nothing like a good pouchong. It has such a wonderfully distinct flavor and aroma. Its something between coconut, vanilla, and floral scent that just captivates me, pulls me in, and won’t let me go, leaving me craving it for days after days until finally it allows my mind to release it long enough so that I can go back to other teas and rediscover this again, at a later time, each time fully being enraptured just as I was the last time I sipped it. Every time I have this pouchong its like a totally new experience all over again.
