The Persimmon Tree Tea Company

After figuring out that my new city has not-so-great tap water (even filtered), I decided to try out some stronger teas for cold brewing to cover up the weird chlorine taste of the water. That is how I decided to cold brew this gunpowder. I put about a tablespoon of tea in my water bottle for 6-7 hours in the fridge. On the positive side, the taste is very strongly smoky, so I can’t taste the weird tap water anymore. On the other hand, the smokiness was a little too strong for me. I think I’m not such a fan of smoky in teas. There was also some bitterness at the end of the sip, but it wasn’t too strong.

Brought this one with me to class today, which may not have been the best idea because the water temps at school vary so much. It was actually unusually piping hot today, and I didn’t wait long enough for it to cool before steeping the tea, so it ended up more bitter than usual. I think the strong smoky taste helped mask the bitterness a bit, though, so it all worked out. Plus, when I’m in the middle of lecture, I’m not too picky about what tea I have as long as it helps me focus, haha.

When I rolled out of bed this morning, I just blindly grabbed the nearest tea, and this was it. This is a nice, smoky green tea with just a bit of bitterness. I think I like pairing it with savory Asian foods because on its own, it’s a bit intense for me. Today, however, that intensity was appropriate for the beginning of the day. Probably won’t reorder because I have so many other green teas, but I will enjoy it while it lasts!

I probably have had gunpowder before without knowing, but this is the first time that I got some for myself and steeped it at home. First steep was very short, tasted like classic green tea. Second steep I was distracted by cleaning up a mess on the counter and steeped a bit longer. It really brought out the smokiness of the tea, which was a nice surprise. It was a little bitter, though, so I’ll have to try to find a nice in between for next time.

Sipdown (88)! I steeped this one at a low 180 F today, which turned out to be perfect. Also, not much leaf got through the strainer today, so they didn’t sit at the bottom of my mug making the tea bitter. The end result was a really nice, sweet and grassy tea. It was just the perfect mellow and relaxing tea to have this afternoon!

I’m bumping up the rating a little because I think that in previous steeps of this tea, I just used water that was too hot, which made it too bitter. In terms of senchas, this was a good one, but not the absolute best that I’ve had. I may consider adding it to an order if I ordered from Persimmon Tree again, but I’m not going to start an order just to restock on this one.

So I got around to doing a cold brew of this tea, and was kind of disappointed. It just tasted like any ordinary, plain green tea. I was hoping to bring out some natural sweetness by cold brewing, but I just got a bitter aftertaste instead. So my general conclusion so far about this tea is that it’s nothing special, and I will not be reordering it in the future. Bummer.

Perhaps I underleafed this today, but the flavor seemed a bit weak this time around. It had a typical grassy/vegetal flavor about it, but it was hard to pick it apart more than that because the flavors were so very subtle. It also tasted the slightest bit smoky, but that may be because it was next to a gunpowder sample I had from the same Persimmon Trees sample. Also, the rest of my sample seems to have been crushed a bit, so I’ll probably put the rest of it into a tea filter and cold brew. All in all, a lovely cup of tea that was calming and a bit of a palate cleanser after the last tea I had. However, it doesn’t seem special enough to order again.

Backlog. I only did a quick steep of this in the morning before heading off for the day, so I can only say that it tasted pretty typical of a sencha: grassy, vegetal. I will rate and note properly when I can actually sit down to have a cup instead of rushing like today. Well, okay, one more note. When I came back home, there was still some left in the cup that had significantly cooled down (of course), which made me think that I may try cold brewing this one, too!

My Cyber Monday order from Persimmon Tree arrived yesterday! I was initially going to reorder Vanilla Bean until I noticed Periwinkle, which seemed similar, so I ordered a sample of this tea to compare. It’s been a while since I had vanilla bean, but I think I preferred the more classic vanilla ice cream-esque taste from vanilla bean than this tea. Periwinkle has a more subtle vanilla taste, but there is also something off about it to me. I’m starting to think that it might be the Assam base. Luckily, I ordered a sample of straight Assam, so I can get to the bottom of this. Just a few months ago, I was trying to untangle the differences between black, green, oolong, and white, and now I’m realizing how different teas can be within these categories. It’s pretty exciting, but also a little exhausting, exploring them all and trying to figure out which ones I prefer personally.

This tea smells very much like sweet butterscotch candy, which is deceiving since it did not taste overly sweet. It was good, but I think I may add some rock sugar next time and see how it comes out. I used 1.5 teaspoons and will not adjust it for the next cup. I have only tried a couple of white teas in the past and like how light they are. This is no exception.

I received 2/3 of this $1 sample via Lariel through a very lopsided swap.
I didn’t care for this tea any more than she did… it is horrible.

Wow. I don’t know how they managed it but the caramel in this tea is nearly spot on. I’ve tried a number of caramel teas trying to find one that approximated caramel enough for my taste, and this is it. Yum. The caramel is there, but it is not overly sweet. It’s absolutely lovely.

From the Great Canadian TTB.

I made this one to take shopping. I was not Black Friday shopping, I had a few things to pick up for tomorrow, but I got caught in the Black Friday hoards. However, I forgot it on the counter at home. So now I am drinking it about 2.5 hours later.

This one managed to still be luke warm by the time I got home, which is pretty good. I expected it to be stone cold. It definitely tastes like butterscotch. I was a bit disappointed though. I was hoping for a bit creamier taste. This was definitely butterscotch but more on the sharp side. It reminds me of those old school butterscotch candies that are caramel coloured but still clear (if that makes sense). This one definitely has some good flavour to it.

Tea #9 from HHTTB2

No berries. No cream. I actually didn’t taste anything past the rooibos.

A woodchip for you! A woodchip for you! Aaaand a woodchip for you! Everybody gets woodchips!

This is super heavy on the chamomile and the little flowers were stuffed at the top of the sample baggy and I had to decant into something where I could actually get some of the blend.

This isn’t horrible, but I don’t really get banana or coconut from this. Mostly chamomile, maybe a mild sweetness but I added sweetener. I’m not the biggest fan of chamomile since there was an incident a year or so ago when I had the stomach bug, enough said. This I can manage to get down without reliving that awful experience but it’s not something I’ll be drinking again AND the remains of the packet are now living in my swap box.

2 tsp + sweetener in 16oz steeping mug

I finished up the last bit of my sample today (sipdown!) and it was tasty. It’s been very cold lately and this creamy vanilla tea really hit the spot. I will certainly order more of this blend in the future.

I got 2 steepings out of the leaves and added sweetener in my 16oz steeping mug.

I decided to be temporarily distracted from all the secret pumpkin and Davidstea new teas I have swimming around and try one of the Persimmon Tree Tea Company sample baggies that I was ignoring at work.

For a only partially (not crazily sprinkled candy) flavored tea, this is really tasty! The vanilla is not overwhelming and I’ve noticed that I really like Assam as a black tea, especially as a base for flavored ones. I’d pick up a tin of this for sure!

2 tsp in 16oz steeping mug + sweetener

Tea #11 from the HHTTB

♪ Berries and cream berries and cream! I’m a little lad… ♪Oh wait, I’m not a little lad. That’s what’s wrong here.

Yucky! I do not like this tea. I have not the words to describe it. It’s just yucky.

This is another one from the travelling tea box I received in the mail today. I found the flavour a little too strong, but it did taste like butterscotch. Even though this was pleasant enough, I would not order it.

Thanks Jeweledthumb! At first the apples confused me so I had to look at the ingredients list. This smells like chocolate chip ice cream :) the mint is slightly overpowering but there is still a nice creamy chocolate note in the background. Nothing exciting but still enjoyable.

Even though I feel like garbage with a Lupus flair in full bloom, I still managed to accomplish something today and that makes me immensely happy. I am almost finished with my room rearrange and massive reorganize meaning I have a tea tasting station at my craft area (so much better lighting than the kitchen) now I can tea and craft in peace. I am fairly reclusive so always having to be social in the kitchen was grating on my nerves, plus it meant I was a whole room away from my craft supplies, tragic! Once I am finished I will have to post some photos, but I can tell you it involves Octopus art, a jellyfish lamp, a magical electric firefly in a jar, and of course my various Minecraft loot, it is an area conducive to creativity.

Today I am going to review a fruity and colorful tea from The Persimmon Tree, Fruit Fusion. I was extremely lucky and won a tin of this tea in a contest run by fellow tea enthusiast The Cup of Life. The tea (or really Tisane in this case) is made from Strawberries, Rose Hips, Hibiscus Flowers, Applies, Orange Peel, Cherries, Lemongrass, and Sunflower Petals, some amazing ingredients and a few that I am notorious for not being a fan of. The aroma is very sweet and super fruity, I love all the different fruits and can certainly detect the strawberries, cherries and apples. There is a tartness from the fruit (and hibiscus flowers) as well but it is not as strong as the sweet. The aroma vaguely reminds me of a fruity trail mix and is making me kinda hungry. Thankfully I do not smell any of the dreaded lemongrass, yay!

Giving the tisane a thorough steeping reveals an incredibly vibrant liquid, it is very red and reminds me of maple leaves. The aroma is very sweet, but it is also very tart, like a mixture of very tart cherries and fresh apples. There are also undertones of strawberries and citrus. The ruby liquid is very sweet, it has the aroma of fruit juice or maybe a wine-less Sangria. I can certainly say it smells delicious.

I am excited and a bit apprehensive to taste the tea, the aroma is sweet (which you all probably know by now I like naturally sweet things) but it is also tart (which, I really don’t like at all…but yet I love sour) so if it is more sweet than tart I will be a happy Enderman. Nope, nope, nope, it is tart, crazy intense tart! That popping sound was probably my salivary glands exploding from the tartness. I have no shame in admitting I am adding some sugar to this tea because I really want to taste it, I just find that much tart painful. With the sugar it is still tart but much easier for me to drink, the taste is very fruity as expected. The strongest flavor that pops through is cherry followed by rose hips and a bit of strawberry. I am not a huge fan of this tea, it is certainly a great fruit blend and the flavors are really clear, I just don’t like them. I gave a visiting friend who loves tart teas a cup of this and she loved it, so I can certainly say to this tea ’it’s not you, it’s me.’ I will certainly have to try more from this company though, so stay tuned.

Photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-persimmon-tree-fruit-fusion-tea.html

Drank the last bit of this last night ;) Tasty treats, these tiny little packs.