Despite my delving deeper in the world of serious teas, I still have a secret love for floral teas. For that reason I was excited to get a generously sized sample of this selection. Upon first opening the bag the floral scent was very powerful, predominated by the rose petals. The dry tea had a scattering of white tea leaves but consisted mostly of bright pink rose petals and white blobs of chrysanthemum blooms. I like the fact that this tea is organic since flowers are often treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. I first brewed it according the manufacturers directions, with water close to boiling and steeped for 4 minutes. The second brewing was done using a Zarafina Tea Maker set on Medium White.
Neither attempt was much to my liking. The first try was way too strong and very sweet. I had seen other good reviews of this tea so I figured I should give it another go. Another TeaViews staff member used a Zarafina when she did her review so I used all of the same settings in hopes that the water temperature would make a difference. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I was drinking potpourri or my rose water linen spray. I think when it comes to floral ingredients less is more. I’d rather have the white tea delicately accented than completely drowned out.
I'm with you sister.
It looks like potpourri even! 😛
I don't know what people like with the taste of white tea. It seems it sells to drown out the flavor because plainly it's too subtle. Maybe people just want the white tea for health reasons but want to taste something else.