I’m not really a coffee person. I prefer tea, and I know a lot of fellow writers love tea, too. But have you ever wanted to break out of the Early Grey or English Breakfast norm and try something new? Well, let me help you find some cool new teas! If you need a little hot and flavorful boost to help you reach your writing goal or you’re just a lover of tea or you’d like to try some tea but aren’t fond of the stereotypical types, these Tea Tuesday posts are for you.
This weeks tea is …
*drum roll*
Yi Dian Hong
How I found it: While walking through downtown on the Fourth of July, I stumbled upon a spice shop and flipped because I didn’t know we had one. Then I ran inside and perused through their many assortments of teas and found a blooming tea. I thought to myself, This is the one. I immediately purchased it.
The Tea: The most attractive part of this tea is how it is brewed. It starts as a ball of tea the size of a cherry then you pour boiling water over it and it blossoms into a “floral bouquet” as you can see in the picture above. It’s fun to watch the tea “sprout” as it fans out into a pretty floating flour cluster. Basically that is the best part of these tea, for visual enjoyment. The actual tea tastes like a standard green tea. Maybe slightly higher quality than what you would find in Walmart.
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| “Flower bloom and grow. Let your power shine.” I was thinking this while watching the tea bloom. Don’t judge! |
Serving Recommendations: I brewed this tea for the full ten minutes listed on the package so I could see the flower in its fullest bloom though the flower gets to its max at about five minutes. I had this with sugar both hot and iced. I preferred it iced. It goes well with my habit of eating ramen at lunch.
How much is it and where can you get it? I got this in a package of two for $3.50 at the Marietta Spice Mill though I’m sure it can be found in other places online. It isn’t insanely rare. Each ball will brew one quart of tea so you’re getting a half gallon of tea for $3.50. That’s pretty good.
So how good is it? I’m indecisive about this one. The taste is average but the cool factor is five. I’ll give it three stars for taste, but keep the fun part in mind.
Have you tried this tea? What did you think of it? Have you ever tried a blooming tea?
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Oh cool! Yay someone else who likes blooming tea! It would! Do you have a favorite tea? Thanks so much for stopping by!
My family loves tea of all sorts. We tried this once, and it was absolutely beautiful to watch it bloom. Would make a lovely "show" at a spring tea party. Tasty as well.
Awesome. I will definitely check out the site! Thank you! Oriental Beauty is one of the teas I'm reviewing next month. ^ ^
Your reply isn't showing up for some reason yet I got an email notif so I'm copying and pasting it so I can see it while replying. XD
Sara Letourneau:
You're welcome! It's Teasenz (www.teasenz.com). They have several blooming teas to choose from, and even after S&H it tends to be a better "bang for your buck" than Teavana, both in price and quantity. Oriental Beauty was the one I tried, and I have another Teasenz blooming tea (Love At First Sight, I think?) to review next month.
And TBH, most everything I've sampled from Teasenz so far has been excellent. 😉
You're welcome! It's Teasenz (www.teasenz.com). They have several blooming teas to choose from, and even after S&H it tends to be a better "bang for your buck" than Teavana, both in price and quantity. Oriental Beauty was the one I tried, and I have another Teasenz blooming tea (Love At First Sight, I think?) to review next month.
And TBH, most everything I've sampled from Teasenz so far has been excellent. 😉
True true. I want to try some more. What was the Chinese company? Thanks for commenting!
Brewing blooming tea is such a neat experience, but yeah, it all comes down to taste in the end. I had tried one a year ago from Teavana (Peach Momataro, I think?), and it was just OK. But then I sampled one from a Chinese tea company for review, and was thrilled with how floral, sweet, and delicate it was. I guess it depends on the vendor / original craftsman?