Thank you Liquid Proust for passing along this sample of one of your creations! From the few teas you passed along to me, I definitely get the impression you like peach or, at least, peach teas.
The sample was so generous that I’ll be able to enjoy multiple mugs in addition to passing some along in a swap to someone in Europe – hopefully the person who received this tea will enjoy it as much as I did and you’ll be able to branch out a little into Europe!I probably would have never thought to pair Peach and Earl Grey/Bergamot, which is I guess why Liquid Proust is the blender and not myself. The idea is intriguing though; and I have to admit I’m incredibly happy to not see apricot or mango thrown in here as well; I get so tired of those flavour combinations. It’s been done time and time again, and it’s refreshing to see something else. The oolong base is really innovative as well; with it’s characteristic fruity flavour Formosa is a fantastic choice.
The dry leaf smells really incredible! You can get a sense of the bergamot as this grounded, lofty sort of flavour but then the ripe, plump aroma of fresh peaches seems to bounce off it! It smells juicy, and I can’t help but picture taking a bite of some sort of fantastic peach/orange hybrid and having the sugary juices running down my chin like some sort of gluttonous child gorging themselves on fresh picked fruit.
In traditional Earl Grey fashion I made sure this was my first tea of the day; however because I got the impression this was going to be more naturally sweet than a lot of EG I’m familiar with so I iced it instead of having it hot. True to my suspicions this was pretty sweet but in a very natural way that was realistic to the sweetness of fresh fruit. The bergamot was actually a lot milder than I would’ve guessed it to be base on the smell of the dry leaf. It ran like a citrusy current throughout each sip, consistently merged with the body of the sip. The peach left me breathless; there was something unnatural about it, but not in an artificial way or anything like that. It was more unnatural in a “how can this taste so plump, rich, and juicy!?” sort of way. I’m not really a fan of actual peaches, but if they all tasted like that I’d go through a crate of them a week. The bergamot and peach compliment each other to a tea; similar to what I was getting from the dry smell the bergamot is this lovely stable flavour and the peach seems to jump off it.
The formosa base was a great choice; while there’s a really faint but of astringency it doesn’t detract and the natural fruitiness of the oolong contributes even more lively fruit flavours. What I specifically observed was a really rich stonefruit like flavour in line with cherry, but a little more of a cocktail cherry type of note, which just goes incredibly well the peach. Plus, oolong means more solid steeps and so more bang for your buck.
As someone who is neither anti-Earl Grey or Peach but who doesn’t seek out those flavours I want to own this. I think I could drink it often; and with a growing list of Liquid Proust Teas that are blowing my mind Andrew is slowly wearing me down to the point where a LP order is probably in my near future despite the poor state of the Canadian dollar. Definitely a blend worth trying!
A final note though, in the battle of bergamot vs. peach I think peach wins…
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Wish listing this one based on your review!
I’ve got a few more of LP’s teas to try – but so far I’m 2/3. And I think the reason I disliked the third was more a personal taste preference than anything else.
I will be interested to hear what you think of the Blueberry Sandstorm Genmaicha :)
Don’t have a sample of that one – but when I inevitably end up ordering it’s definitely one of the ones I’m looking at :)
Wish listing this one based on your review!
I’ve got a few more of LP’s teas to try – but so far I’m 2/3. And I think the reason I disliked the third was more a personal taste preference than anything else.
I will be interested to hear what you think of the Blueberry Sandstorm Genmaicha :)
Don’t have a sample of that one – but when I inevitably end up ordering it’s definitely one of the ones I’m looking at :)