The Persimmon Tree Tea Company

Had this again today. One of the few I’ve purchased with out so much as even a sample prior to the order… and it’s green!

When I first started with loose leaf I never thought I would like 2 things… green teas and citrus teas. You, my fellow Steepster friends, have worked your magic and shown me I can enjoy them both :)

Today this was a nice nutty green tea with caramel nummyness, of course with my bit of raw sugar :) I like how this one has the caramel and the nutty notes from the rice that work play nicely with the green base. The green comes through, but not too boldly. This tea is rich and sweet. Not something I would drink every day, but satisfies that occasionaly desire for something with a green base.

I don’t know what possessed me to buy a small tin of this tea having not tasted or even smelled it before since I generally going for blacks before greens, but I did. I didn’t even buy a black tea on this order, not even a sample! Somewhere between the description and the tasting notes, I got won over… well, that and I’m a sucker for a sale.

I opened up this cute little tin to a wonderful sweet caramel fragrance and these funny looking balls sitting atop the blend. The balls I assume are generously sized pieces of caramel just waiting to melt into your cup. I was tempted to bite into one before putting it into my steeper basket to see for sure that’s what it was, but I managed to refrain… It might happen the next time though.

Steeped the sweet caramel fragrance remains and the addition of toastiness from the little pieces of rice, and the green tea is present but not pushy…. How I like my greens, sitting in the back being supportive. I added a touch of raw sugar to bring out the caramel.

It still amazes me I picked this over a black tea but I think it’s a winner for when I’m in that craving for a green tea time that happens. When I started trying loose leaf teas Nov/Dec of last year, I thought I wouldn’t find any greens that I liked… boy I was wrong. I’m starting to find out that I really like having the variety of different kinds of teas more than I expected I would.

This is a very exceptional tea. I normally don’t think a ton of gunpowder greens, as they mostly are just tasty and traditional and can hold up to a few steeps. This one is very vegetal but also smoky and smooth. There is no bitterness, and can also hold up to a few steeps. Very, very good.

I used a steeping temperature that was slightly too high with this tea – 86C instead of 82C. I steeped it for the minimum 3 minutes and got a dark brown liquor that smelled of fruit. However, the taste was quite tart and acidic, almost metallic, and I didn’t get much jasmine. I thought sweetening the tea would soften it a bit, but it didn’t do much.

I’ll try steeping it at a lower temperature, but if that still doesn’t work out, I’ll probably add it to my swap pile.

Thanks to darby for the sample.

The weather outside today is glorious! All of nature is very verdant with colorful flowers, the sun is shining brightly, and the sky is a gorgeous shade of blue. It is one of those days I am so glad that windows exist and that my bedroom has them, that way even though I am in bed I can feel like I am part of nature. When I was little and would be unwell in the spring and summer, my mother was a big believer in having open windows and flowers by my bed, I truly think it helped with recovery and still hold true to that paradigm.

Today’s tea is a reflection of nature’s beauty, Rose Mojito by The Persimmon Tree is a blend of Organic White Tea, Wild Roses, Organic Peppermint, and Seasonally Selected Botanicals. Not gonna lie, this tea has been on my ‘want to try’ list for a while, so I am super excited to give it a go. The aroma of this very flowery pile of leaves is quite interesting, a blend of roses, mint, lavender, and a finish of green vegetation. The leaves smell like late spring time and nature, it reminds me of the smell of my mother’s garden as I grew up, I love it!

Into the basket the pretty leaves and flowers go! The aroma of the wet tea leaves after steeping is minty and green with a slight hint of fresh lettuce. There are also strong notes of lavender and roses that blend really well with the mint notes. The liquid without the leaves is more floral than lettuce and mint, primarily roses, but there is a strong sweet presence of lavender.

Usually with a tea like this I would say something like ‘this tea is not for you if you don’t like mint or flowers’ but I am tossing that warning out the window. At first you taste a touch of lettuce and sage, this fades to floral and lastly mint. None of the notes overpower each other, they blend together in a really wonderful way. As the tea cools it gets a bit of a subtle sweetness, which makes me suspect that this tea could be quite tasty iced in the hot months. On a whim I made a cup of this tea for Ben, who notoriously hates mint and rarely likes roses, turns out he really enjoyed it, so if that is not a point in this tea’s favor I don’t know what is. New favorite achieved!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-persimmon-tree-rose-mojito-tea.html

I have a serious case of the derp today, I think because the weather has turned nice and my brain has gone frolicking off in the flowers and left my body behind to work on projects. Wouldn’t it just be the best thing ever if that were possible? I read a book (Court of the Air, for those curious) a while ago that had Steampunk-Voodoo-Buddhist-Robots (it was a thing) where some of them were Slip-thinkers. Basically they sent part of their mind into little mini robots (Mu Bodies) to do things for them, I admit I was rather jealous. It seems like the perfect solution for someone with too many interests.

Today’s tea has nothing to do with robots, but I certainly don’t hold that against it! Detox Blend by The Persimmon Tree, is an herbal blend to help you detox when you have overdone it with the junk food, or if your belly hates you, like mine frequently does! A blend of (all organic) Coriander Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Milk Thistle, Chicory Roots, Burdock Roots, and Dandelion Roots, this tisane certainly has a really neat look to it. The aroma of this tea is seedy, not all shifty-eyed, but like actual seeds, especially fennel. There is a nice amount of coriander and an earthy root aroma as well. Sniffing it reminds me of the fennel mouth cleaners they have sitting out in Indian restaurants, I love those things!

The brewed tea has a more distinct earthy root like aroma with side notes of sweet fennel and herbaceous coriander. The majority of the aroma is savory rather than sweet. The liquid sans the pile of seeds and roots is mostly fennel and coriander with a nice earthy finish of roots.

The taste is earthy and root like, but thankfully not bitter like some root based teas can be. I am looking at you Black Cohosh and Valerian, you are so unpleasantly bitter! I noticed this tea has a warming effect starting at my core and moving out to my fingers, it was quite soothing and relaxing. There are also notes of coriander and fennel, giving the tea a nice delicate sweetness at the end. This tea is great for a day when you feel unwell, it is tasty without being overwhelming, plus it feels all warm and snuggly!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-persimmon-tree-detox-blend-tea.html

This was the first tea that I tried out of the set of tins I won in Persimmon Tree’s Facebook contest. It was really, really good! I love Earl Grey, so I have tried a lot of them. This one was nice and strong, which I love. But the strength wasn’t from bergamot, it was from the base and the cream taste. The bergamot was there, but it was really nicely balanced. The cream flavor was almost a caramel. The wet leaves smelled great too. Now I’m looking forward to trying the other ones.

One thing I found surprising was how much the flavor of this tea varies depending on the preperation method. The first two cups I prepared according the the suggested brewing instructions using water that was 180°F and steeping the leaves for 1 minute. If you take a sip just as the tea has finished steeping it tastes very strongly of steamed vegetables, but as the tea cools towards room temperature a variety of other flavors start to make themselves known. There is still a hint of vegetal flavor, but a sweet vanilla bean flavor starts to take over. Every once-in-awhile I get a hint of something else. I’m not sure that I would call it star anise as they do in the description. That has more of a licorice-like flavor, this is more of a spicy bite that is more akin to black pepper. It makes for a very interesting contrast with the sweet vanilla flavor.

You can read the full review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/5/13/tuesday-tea-lotus-the-persimmon-tree-tea-company.html

I would like to thank Nghia from The Persimmon Tree Tea Company for sending me this tea for review.

When I first opened up the tin I was greeted with the heavenly scent of vanilla. This wasn’t the artificial scent of vanilla I’ve come to expect of many vanilla teas. No, this smelled like I had opened up a new package of vanilla beans. Did I mention that it smelled heavenly? I love the scent of vanilla beans! Once the tea had been steeped the vanilla flavor mellowed out a little and I could taste the subtle floral flavors from the pouchong base as well as a hint of citrus from the lemon myrtle. When it comes to citrus teas I find that I prefer the subtle flavor that lemon myrtle adds. It gives a hint of citrus flavor without the overwhelming tartness of real lemon.

Now that I’ve tried this tea I’m kicking myself for not having tried it sooner. The bright citrus flavor and sweet vanilla are the perfect springtime combination. I love that it is sweet enough on its own that I don’t have to add sugar to it. Since it was 45°F when I woke up I tried this hot first, but it also makes a wonderful iced tea. I’ll definitely be purchasing more of this once the weather warms up!

You can read the full review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/4/22/tuesday-tea-mandarin-cream-the-persimmon-tree-tea-company.html

I would like to thank Nghia from The Persimmon Tree Tea Company for sending me this tea for review.

This was not at all what I was expecting. It tastes HARDCORE like cooked green vegetables, with a floral taste that is secondary. It is very strong on first steep, even only having steeped for a minute. Next time I would start with a shorter one to see if I could tone down the steamed veggie taste. It borders on bitter but isn’t actually bitter, it is just the strength of the tea taste coming through. Recommended for those who like a nontraditional green, who love strong flavors, or really love veggie flavor.

I enjoyed this – it was very full bodied and had some astringency that I was worried would turn bitter, but it did not. I don’t think I am the biggest fan of such strong bold black teas in general, so I don’t think I would buy more of this. But anyone who likes bolder blacks or really strong tea taste would probably like this.

For all of the ingredients in the description of this tea, I was expecting a sweet, burnt, and roasty cup. I got a clean grassy green tea with a subtle sweetness at the back. The second steeping of the leaves was a little more sweet.

First Sip Thought: “Rich & Creamy!”

Smell: When first opening the tin, I wasn’t crazy about the scent. After I steeped it though, it was a delicious scent. The initial one definitely did not do it justice! A great way to realize to “never judge a tea by its initial smell.”

Taste: Don’t let the verdict steer you away, because I definitely enjoyed this pu-erh tea. It’s not like others because it’s not an intense earthy flavour. If I were to change one thing it would probably be to have more pu-erh taste than the coconut/chocolate, but that’s me being picky. However, the chocolate and coconut are the perfect match for the pu-erh base. It’s a lovely taste and if you do enjoy coconut and chocolate then you’ll love the combination in this tea. I think of this tea as an excellent cozy drink. When I took a few sips I noticed a toasty coconut, and rich and creamy chocolate coating. It is definitely not a cheap, artificial chocolate or coconut flavouring as well.
Bonus: several re-steeps of this tea will get you the same flavour each time!

www.theteacupoflife.blogspot.com

I seldom brew blooming teas. They are pretty but seldom tasty. That said, I liked this one a lot. It tastes of cantaloupe melon and what my brain detected as flowers with something like very light clove or clover. Is that what lychee tastes like? I have no idea.

My wife and I drank the first 16 oz pot straight down and agreed we needed another. I am pretty sure it would have gone a third pot.

If you are going to prepare a blooming tea for display, it should be something you would actually want to drink. I think this is – and my wife agrees.

My only cup of tea this afternoon :( But it is really hitting the spot :) Back in my tea bag days I hated Assam. Turns out it is pretty good if you use decent loose leaf and don’t boil it to death.

After my morning cup the contractor and his foreman showed up at my house to kill off the items on my punch list – things that they missed or that didn’t suit me. My list seemed longer than it really was, so it only took half a day, then they packed what little they had left behind from last week and are now gone. Just got to get the gutters installed and then it is all ours to deal with. I put a pic up on my blog for those who want to see.