The Persimmon Tree Tea Company

This is the second of the Persimmion Tree’s teas that I have had the opertunity to sample. I’m a huge fan of peach and enjoy a good cup of white peony (Bai MuDan) on occasion so I hoped this would be a hit with me.

I had my first cup of this early this morning and tried it hot, using 1 teaspoon per 8 oz. I wasn’t blown away by it, but did enjoy it. I resteeped this once and while still enjoyable, it had lost all of the peach flavor. I don’t think that it will hold up to a third steep. My second cup was using 2 teaspoons per 8 oz and I preferred it that way because it was less delicate and I could taste the peach more.

I decided to use the rest of my sample to make a really small batch of iced tea and the flavors really shine this way. I think that they light floral flavor from the Bai MuDan works really well with the peach flavor.

Thank you Sil for this sample.

Mint tea has gone down nicely today in the heat and this is probably going to be my last pot before bed. It’s only 9pm but I must be up early in the morning for work and I need as much sleep as I can get because Lord knows it’s going to be humid and sweaty tonight.

This raw blend has a sweet mint scent with a subtle hint of vanilla. The sweetness comes partially from the Rooibos base and also partially from the apple pieces.

Once steeped this tea is very sweetly vanilla scented with a hint of mint. Also smells rather heavily Rooibos.

Flavour is sweet and rich with vanilla, very creamy and smooth too but with a gentle refreshing kick of mint that lingers in the after taste. I can’t really taste any chocolate or cocoa and I’m having trouble finding the apple though I believe I can taste it…sort of.

Despite it lacking the chocolate characteristics I am loving this tea. Almost as good as Butiki – Killer Vanilla. I said earlier that the 52 Teas – Mint Vanilla Mate was my new second favourite but it’s moved into third place after this tea.

Also just a quick note to say that the Rooibos keeps the tea light and sweet but does not taste as strong as the blend looks or smells. :)

We’ve had this really awful ongoing saga of our washer and dryer with our property manager. Initially the dryer band was degrading, so they replaced both pieces. But since that process started, the story has included flooding, shorted fire alarms, random appliances, and other things. And today the new dryer broke. Bleeeeerg

So, of course, I turned to tea.

Sipdown

Pretty sure that puts my tea tally at 386.

I definitely wish I had more of this. The natural sweetness is really nice, and the coconut is really fresh and refreshing. I also really like the creamy mouthfeel. I think I enjoyed it more this time than last, even.

All-around feel better tea.

Should pick up more eventually.

I’m jumping on the bandwagon of minimizing the font size on personal stuff so it’s easier to skip. So here goes.

Fiance came back from his business trip on Friday! He even brought me back something. Strep throat! Thanks, honey!

So, I went to the doctor yesterday so I don’t give it to everyone ever when we go to his parent’s cottage for the 4th; and she prescribed some Augmentin 875. Now why you would prescribe a pill that large to someone who has a sore throat is really beyond me. It seems a little sadistic.

I want Fiance’s iron clad immune system.

This is really lovely with the safflowers and the cornflowers. The orange-y red and blues play off the leaves really well. The dry and steeped aroma reminds me of coconut water.

The taste was 80% fresh coconut taste to 20% white tea with a nice smooth/milky mouthfeel. The coconut flavor is natural and naturally sweet, and I would guess a touch of rock sugar would only amplify that further.

I drank mine warm because cold things hurt right now, but Fiance drank his cup chilled and decided that if coconut water tasted like this we’d always have some on hand.

Baby Video Game Rant: Playing Dragon Age 2 on Nightmare mode as a first playthrough without playing Dragon Age: Origins is becoming an exercise in frustration. Sigh I’ll probably dump it back down to Hard before my controller ends up in my TV.

Back to tea: I love the smell of this dry. The strawberry is really prominenet with a touch of floral. It’s like a tropical fruity coctail of yum.

I must have cold steeped this too long though because I feel like I’m being punched in the face with ginger. It’s not super zippy aggressive ginger, more like a soft fuzzy teddy bear paw punching me in the face with ginger.

And it’s a weird contrast with the sweetness of the guava flavor (which they nailed). I’m missing the strawberry entirely, but the base adds a nice floral note that would pair well with the guava if I wasn’t getting punched by gingered teddy bears.

I loved this! I kept putting off tasting this sample because I was anticipating enjoying it and I wanted to have ample time to savor it. Well, this evening was the time and although I didn’t get to relax in the bath with a cup of tea, I enjoyed every drop of The Persimmon Tree’s chocolate banana rooibos tea.
The chocolate really came through in this tea. The apple bits, banana dhips and pink peppercorn didn’t stand out on their own, but they blended together nicely in support of the chocolate.
This is definitely a dessert tea. (It tasted better than hot cocoa.) For me the key was to let it cool to above room temperature and then down decent size sips. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have loved it as much as I did.

This was okay, but it didn’t really grab me. The steeped tea smells nice, and the flavours are pleasant enough, but kind of bland. Maybe I needed to make it stronger (I used 3 tsp for a 15-oz mug), or maybe it’s meant to be delicate and I generally go for stronger flavours. Thanks to Starfevre for the sample.

I was very excited for the new Persimmon Tree teas to come out (and try!) and Butterscotch looked the coolest of the new line up!

The white tea base is nice, adding lightness to the butterscotch buttery smokey flavor. The tea has a nice, savory end with a bit of spice. Sweetened, Butterscotch becomes more like liquid candy!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/butterscotch-from-the-persimmon-tree-tea-review/

Tea weapon?

just smelling the dry leaf…i can tell i’m going to love this tea. i’m in the mood for this tea today. i need this tea today. and i only have the one cup so i’m gonna cherish every sip. (i will try a re-steep).
lightly citrusy and mushily creamy. so musical.

thank you whatshesaid!

i taught myself to play the misty mountain song from The Hobbit on my viola. i also learned the sherlock theme melody. and i am considering stenciling the 221b Baker street wallpaper design onto one of my bedroom walls.

i have been rather busy as of late. i want to give everyone’s adorable discussions and comments lots of attention, but i just can’t seem to dig out the time. sadly.

Now I guess this is what you’d call a “dessert tea”. It’s really good! Smooth, sweet, very caramelly. (Thanks, Starfevre!)
I used the 2-tsp sample in about 12-14 oz of water. Added sugar and milk.

thanks to whatshesaid for this cup!
i’m in search of the tea that will relieve me of my tea blahs.
this one isn’t it i don’t think. but it’s very soothing. very creme.
which is a really good start.
i love the scent. it’s strong and that means something.

I got a free tin of this just for sharing something on Facebook. Free shipping too! Tea in the mail with no credit card required! How fortunate that it’s also quite good. I mean, I will probably pay money to buy more when I’m out. It’s a good looking bai mu dan, flavors go starwberry first, guava second, and ginger on the finish. This is a great tea to serve guests who aren’t tea experts.

First Sip Thought: “Creamy deliciousness!”

Smell: At first, the scent is very subtle but sweet aroma. The initial smell I receive from it is a bold vanilla along side with slight hints of sweet berries. I can’t say I really could tell there was white chocolate in the blend until I took a few sips, however I still found other flavours took over. Once the warm water hits the dried leaves, you will begin to adore the flavours taking up your home’s air.

Taste: An easy, soft, sweet vanilla taste that adds to the creamy factor of this blend. It has a lingering flavour to last for quite a bit. My favourite part about this blend is that the roobios is highly noticeable in the sips but not overpowering. I tried this blend twice – first without milk or sugar, and the next taste I decided to see how it may differ with the additions. With a pinch of sugar and splash of milk I found the flavours to be more evident. I would love to recreate this blend in a delicious smoothie, or latte – something good with a milky base. Being caffeine free, and a dessert tea I would recommend a cup before bed instead of hitting some sweets! Great substitute.

www.theteacupoflife.blogspot.ca

Smells and tastes a bit like bottled pina colada/creamy tropical cocktail mix, and I think the unmistakable rooibos smell contributes to the feeling it’s a mix rather than the ideal fresh ingredients by lending it an overly sweet and vaguely plastic element (I think the lemongrass is contributing too…it’s strange, I adore lemongrass when cooking but have noticed in tea so far I find it makes things smell chemical, plastic, once even vaguely urine-y, ick). It isn’t bad really, and if you like pina coladas (cue music) that have that sort of flavor you might dig this. But personally I don’t love it and there are so many dessert tea possibilities out there that I have loved I don’t think I’ll ever re-up.

With my first order from Persimmon Tree Tea Company I received a 1oz sample of White Guava. I’m not really familiar with Guava and it doesn’t seem to be a common ingredient in teas, but I love white peony which is the base of this blend. I do have to say that I was impressed with the packaging of this tea, it arrived only 3 days after I ordered it, packaged in an air tight tin which will keep my tea nice and fresh.

After drinking this tea all day I hardly made a dent in the sample tin, this tea resteeps incredibly well. The main flavor that comes across is the white peony, but the guava gives it a subtle sweetness that works wonderfully with the white peony. I don’t really taste the strawberry and only the barest hint of the ginger. The overall flavor is mild, but since this is a white blend that is really what I expected. This is the perfect addition to my summer rotation, I can’t wait to try it iced tomorrow because I’m sure it will be amazing.

Impressed with how much this smells and tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream (one of my favorite flavors) with some milk. Husband walked into the kitchen while it was steeping and was like “Mmmm! Smells good in here, like mint chocolate chip ice cream—where is it??” and was surprised when I explained it was tea. A very nice dessert option.

With a splash of milk, this really does taste very much like black tea chai, smooth, warmly spiced, and rich. I love that the spices aren’t wimpy. The tea also looks beautiful with some milk; I’ve heard it said sometimes you can tell a tea blend is decent by how it looks brewed with milk—some stuff takes on a dirty dishwasher, washed out streaky grey appearance while better blended teas stay smooth and might turn opaque. This does the latter, turning a pretty opaque taupe with some shell-peach undertones.

I don’t smell or taste the rooibos at all—pretty impressive, on the level of H&S Vanilla Comoro at coming off like a decent version of its standard black counterpart. Until I find better (if I ever do) this will definitely be my late night go-to chai fix. Yummy.

This tastes a lot like chocolate banana flavored things—not to say it’s artificial necessarily, but you know how there’s that banana smell from confections and stickers and whatnot versus being at home and dipping a fresh banana in chocolate and sticking it in the freezer or fridge? This is more the former than the latter. And that has its place too. On the other hand I am impressed with the almost…juicy tartness of the aroma, like real, fresh banana cooked in something. And the flavor becomes more authentic tasting as it cools. My understanding is banana is hard to get right as tea flavors go. The mouthfeel is surprisingly thick, weirdly almost like eating a real banana too.

The rooibos flavor is ever present too, a little more than in some rooibos dessert teas (it doesn’t bother me but just a heads up for those who don’t care for it).

I’m curious how this one would do with a latte treatment…

This one’s pretty too; I guess Persimmon Tree’s teas brew up nice hues in general. It has all the trademark characteristics of an EB blend while seeming a bit lighter and a lot “cleaner” tasting. It’s almost refreshing, relatively speaking. I like how despite that cleanness there’s also an element of black pepper, almost spicy. Delivers if you’re expecting an EB while being just distinct enough in a pleasant way to hold your interest.

Butterscotch from The Persimmon Tree is really a good interesting tea blend. It seems to be more on the scotch side than the butter. For a candy inspired tea it really is not that sweet, or candy like. I get a strong scotch flavor in the blend, as in the alcohol.

The mouthfeel is medium heavy and the cup color is a nice clear light brown. I have also had this tea cold and it keeps its flavor profile quite nicely. A lot of teas taste different when hot versus cold, but this is the same either way.

Adding some sweetener, I used German Rock Sugar, does help bring out the candy like flavor in the tea, more like those golden yellow butterscotch candies you can get at the dime store. Even still I get a heavy scotch flavor from the tea mostly.

There is a creamy or buttery like mouthfeel to a degree, but not so much on the butter flavor. I personally would like it to be a bit more candy like but that is just a personal preference. To be honest, I think more people will appreciate this tea for its pure and direct flavor. It is not another overly sweetened, overly flavored, fake candy tea. It is absolutely a fresh and organic blend which I appreciate even if my taste buds would like it to be a bit sweeter.

Persimmon Tree Tea really does tea well when it comes to offering all natural and organic ingredients! Check out more about what The Persimmon Tree does for our world here. http://www.persimmontreetea.com/about-us

Thanks JackieT for adding this to the swap box. Maybe I’m not in the mood for flavored black teas today. I seem to be striking out. This isn’t bad, it’s just ok. I get some apple, I get some peach, not really any cinnamon, and certainly no cobbler/crisp. I think I was looking for more sweet ooey gooey, bakery goodness and I just didn’t get that. I got more crisp apple, peach.

That classic, comforting nostalgic “plain ol’ black tea from when you first drank tea at all” flavor I sometimes allude to, well, this is that in spades. Like going home again in smell and taste, with maybe a little richer body than typical. A little toasty, a little sweet, just enough bitterness and tannin, just as you remember from long ago but better, somehow both smoother and less weak or watered down tasting. You know. If regular ol’ teabag black tea in restaurants was actually good. Naming it “Vintage Black” was smart.

Once in a while I absolutely crave that sort of thing, and nothing else—no fancier or “better” premium additions or usually tempting flavors—will do. This would be ideal for those times. Very satisfying and a good reboot/reminder of my tea beginnings for when all the bells and whistles and hundreds of choices of tea become overwhelming. Fills an important niche for me.

It’s also, for that sort of thing, a rather pretty cup of tea. Dark and smooth and silky looking, nearly like manual pour-over coffee. Would make a great breakfast tea.