my teapot gave to me
nine imperial beauties,
eight pomelo peels,
seven osmanthus blossoms,
six leaves of mint,
five wen shan bao zhongs,
four types of flowers,
three sprigs of lavender,
two strawberries,
and a single cup of juicy lychee.Today's Tea: Imperial Beauty, from Naivetea
So obviously this tea's name is a little less descriptive than the other have been. Naivetea describes it as smelling "[intensely] fruity, with hints of honey and caramel". I found it smelled like caramel to me, but I didn't catch the fruity notes. Because it's a more traditional-smelling tea, rather than an infused one like most of the others have been (with the exception of the wen shan bao zhong), I decided to brew it for a little shorter amount of time: a mere minute for the first brew, then adding an additional minute for each brewing thereafter.
[via kounellis]
The first brew smells strangely like champagne to me. As for the taste...it's difficult to describe because my first impulse is to say that it's just tea. But really it's a little more than "just tea" (and really, what does that even mean?). Let's say that honey is a faceted jewel. If that were true, then this tea tastes like the slightly dull unpolished version of that jewel. It has no bitter aftertaste at all, just a slightly floral one that's maybe also a bit sweet. Very very good.
The second and third brews result in an intensification of the caramel scent. It's not a super-sweet tea, and I suspect that an addition of honey would really bring out the honey tones in the tea itself. This seems like it would be a good tea to pair with shortbread cookies or tea bread. I do wonder whether these more subtle flavors would come out in an iced tea version of this.
Tasty plain tea for people who enjoy just plain teas. No bitterness and very little dryness. Lovely subtle honey and caramel flavors, as well as some nuttiness.
Taken from http://thatpourgirl.blogspot.com/
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