80

The next chapter in the perfect lemon search.

As you can see from the photo, this tisane is very… geometric. Pretty much every ingredient in it is rectangular, of varying lengths, widths and colors. It doesn’t have a lot of fragrance on its own, and even if it did I wouldn’t be able to tell what it is as I put it in the same tin I’d used for The Tea Table’s Lemon Mango, and I neglected to do a de-scenting so that’s pretty much all I can smell now. (Nice smell though, I liked that one.)

It makes a dark yellow liquor, almost the color of apple juice. It smells promising: there is a sweet smell to it, and there’s definitely lemon.

Hmm. Hmmmmmm.

Wow. I had really expected to be disappointed by this one. Despite its attractive geometry, I expected it to taste a lot like the Luscious Lemon from Simpson & Vail. And failing that I just didn’t expect to like it. It has lemon myrtle in it after all.

But the lemon myrtle is playing nice here. It must be the influence of the vanilla. It’s neither tart nor bitter, so it doesn’t require doctoring. Except it might be better brewed a little stronger. I used 2.5g for a standard size mug.

It does have a green, grassy, herbally quality in addition to the lemon. It’s more reminiscent of a lemon plant than a lemon fruit, which is the one downside as lemon fruit appropriately de-soured is what I’d like to be reminded of.

It’s not as high on the rotation list as the Harney & Sons or the Teavana, but I think now that I’ve tried this I’m no longer motivated to try to get the Simpson & Vail to work. That had a stronger lemon flavor, but also a tart and bitter edge that needed working out to be rotation worthy.

This, on the other hand, needs some time testing and a little bit of thought.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Shanti

Did you see 52teas’ new Lemon Drop Cooler? Sounds like it’d be right up your alley :)

Rabs

LOL! I was getting ready to mention 52teas as well — ya beat me to it :D

__Morgana__

Nope, not yet. I was hoping to find something without rooibos in it. Also, from the description it sounded like it might be too tart for me. It started with “pucker up” while I’m more of a sweet lemon fan. Doesn’t mean I won’t end up trying it eventually though. ;-)

__Morgana__

Ummm. Ok, it’s not rooibos, I looked at it again. It’s honeybush. Hmmm. Now maybe I’ll have to cave. Lol.

Jillian

Honeybush is a lot nicer than rooibos IMO, and you can sweeten it up nicely with sugar or honey too.

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Shanti

Did you see 52teas’ new Lemon Drop Cooler? Sounds like it’d be right up your alley :)

Rabs

LOL! I was getting ready to mention 52teas as well — ya beat me to it :D

__Morgana__

Nope, not yet. I was hoping to find something without rooibos in it. Also, from the description it sounded like it might be too tart for me. It started with “pucker up” while I’m more of a sweet lemon fan. Doesn’t mean I won’t end up trying it eventually though. ;-)

__Morgana__

Ummm. Ok, it’s not rooibos, I looked at it again. It’s honeybush. Hmmm. Now maybe I’ll have to cave. Lol.

Jillian

Honeybush is a lot nicer than rooibos IMO, and you can sweeten it up nicely with sugar or honey too.

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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