Friday, December 5, 2014

Teavivre, Peach Jasmine Dragon Pearl Green Tea

Teavivre Description:
With the sweet and fresh fragrance of peach and the shape of small pearl, this Peach Jasmine Dragon Pearl Green Tea has similar appearance with Jasmine Dragon Pearl Green Tea. Yet the two are very distinct from each other. When seeing this Peach Jasmine Dragon Pearl, you will feel surprised with the sweet peach fragrance.

My Review:
I got this sample with an order a few months ago. Now that warm fruity tea weather is only a memory, I am finally getting to taste this one.

I absolutely love Teavivre's Premium Jasmine Dragon Pearls. In fact all their jasmine teas have been of the highest quality. This tea combines jasmine dragon pearls with the fragrance of peach. I happen to love peach tea, so I have high hopes and expectations going in to this session.

Removing half the sample pearls for examination and brewing. I notice the contrast between the dark outer wrap of leaf and the tan/white streak that reminds me of cream filling.

The scent off the dry leaf is incredibly peachy. To me it is quite fresh and natural. It's almost like sniffing the fruit itself. Nice.

I used 185 F filtered water and a steep time of 2 minutes for a western mug of about 10 oz. This is right in the middle of the 1-3 recommended on the label.

The  brew is a deep golden color. It has a lovely though lighter peach fragrance.

The wet leaf has only partially relaxed. An occasional stem and two leaves can be seen as well as some that are still mostly pearls. This is typical of my experience with Teavivre pearl teas. They are tightly rolled and it takes a few infusions to fully relax the leaf.

The wet leaf is highly peach scented. I am not detecting the jasmine at this point, but I am OK with that as the peach is lovely.

The sip takes the experience to a whole new place. The peach is more discernible than an other flavor but it is not overwhelming. It melds in with the jasmine in hard to define ways. It kind of bounces around, reminding me of vanilla, then caramel, then wine, then back to peach. If I did not know this was scented with jasmine along with peach, I am not sure I would make the connection in this first cup.

It is light and refreshing with no bitterness as prepared. There is only a slight amount of cheek tingle. Since recently learning to drink my tea without sweetener, I find I do notice the tingle a bit more. I am not detecting a lot of obvious green tea notes.

Second western mug was steeped for more than 3 minutes (I picked up a guitar and kind of forgot to watch closely). Anyway, the wet leaf scent is far more vegetal now with fruit and floral notes falling way off.

The taste reflects the less than ideal attention paid to steep time. Here I am getting far more green tea flavor with an increase in astringency. It is not out of control, and in fact I kind of like it this way. The jasmine is now the background note. It is there, but barely detectable. The peach flavor is now the secondary note. It is pleasant, natural, and light.  

As with pretty much all of Teavivre's flavored teas, this is well balanced and mature in flavor. It is not overdone, fake, or candy like. I find this particular combination of peach and jasmine to be a very interesting combination. This is not as amazing as the Premium Jasmine Dragon Pearls, but is a really nice peach tea.

You can find Peach Jasmine Dragon Pearls Green Tea here.

No comments:

Post a Comment