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One look at this quality loose leaf tea and it is obvious that this is not an ordinary black tea blend. This rare tea from Europe starts with only the finest loose black tea available for a strong flavor base. Combined with this is actual pieces of safflower, marigolds, and blue mallow blossoms for a tea that not only tastes fantastic but has a beautiful presentation as well. The marigold pieces add that ideal touch of sweetness that everyone craves while the safflower and blue mallow add the color that gives this tea its unique coloring. Blue Moon is a fragrant cup of tea that appeals to all of the senses and is accompanied with all the health benefits that black tea has to offer.
Steeping instructions:
Amount of water: 6 oz
Amount of Tea: 1 Flat teaspoon
Water Temperature: Boiling
Steeping Time: 3 - 5 minutes.
Red Leaf Tea touts this as being an extremely rare blend from Europe. In my tea travels, travails, and Internetting, I've never run across any mention of it. As such, they're probably right, it is rare. Chock one for the Red Leaf team.
The ingredients for this can best be described as "floral". Safflower, marigolds, and blue mallow round out the botanical aspect of this blend. The Red Leaf website touts that any inherent sweetness stems from the marigold touch. Indeed, it does. The dry leaf batch had a candied smell to it, like eating fruit-filled doughnuts in a greenhouse. Amidst the burnt black tea leaves were flecks of red and green flora; quite lively.
Since it was a black tea, I didn't observe any rigid brewing temperature. I brought 16 ounces to a rolling boil, poured it over 2 teaspoons worth of the merry mixture, and waited for five minutes. The liquid smelled like how I imagined a description from an Irish romantic ballad. "Her hair was berry-scented as she danced through the garden"...or something like that.
Taste-wise, I didn't think the sweetness would carry over, but it did with a punch. The marigold, combined with the blue mallow, created a blueberry tinge. I couldn't taste the black tea, nor did I note any floral flavor. But, damn, it was perfect.
As an added note: I tried to duplicate this with blue malva, dried marigold, safflower, and a blended Ceylon black. The results were - how should I put it? - lacking. I guess I'll leave perfection to the professionals.
Geoff -Teaviews.com -Reviewer
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The first thing you are likely to notice about this tea is that it is visually stimulating. A beautiful bounty of blue, orange and yellow petals and blossoms are sprinkled throughout this blend, making this tea very enjoyable before even taking your first sip.
The scent of the dry tea is vaguely sweet, with a hint of berry (although there are no berries, berry flavor, or even berry leaves in the tea blend itself). Once brewed, the sweet floral scent becomes more apparent, accompanied by the scent of black tea leaves – earthy and robust.
The flavor of the tea is brisk with a twinge of astringency to it. As mentioned in the above description, the petals do contribute a bit of sweetness to the blend. There is also a soft floral characteristic to the tea. Despite its delicate floral quality, I would not call this a “feminine” brew due to the strength of the black tea. After sipping the tea, my palate feels energized and cleansed.
I softened the flavors just a bit with the addition of a drizzle of agave nectar (my favorite!) which curbed the edge of the astringency to the tea, and brought out some of the floral notes. A thin slice of citrus fruit makes a charming accompaniment – I used lemon and found that it complemented the floral as well as the briskness of the tea very well.
Once cooled, the flavors of this tea become a bit muted, so I prefer it and would recommend it be served hot. Overall, this is a very good black tea, one that would work nicely as a morning “wake-me-up” tea or an early afternoon tea, perhaps just before lunch to awaken the palate for your meal.
The Tea Guru (Stephanie)
So this is an ultra uber backlog. Tea Bird sent me this a while back and I haven’t had the chance to log it. Actually, I have a pile of empty tins sitting at the corner of my desk that I have yet to log.
I’ve never heard of this company, but when I took a look at the leaves I thought to myself, Mariage Frères. I actually recall MF having a tea very similar to this one with all the different flower petals. This one is pretty good. The profile is very similar to an European tea—light, fragrant and floral. Don’t really recall much other than that since I’ve had this ages ago. I just remember it being a decent tea that I wouldn’t mind being served another cup of. I might have to check out this company in the future and try more of their teas.
Thanks for sending me some of this Tea Bird!
Ricky - Reviewer - Steepster.com
Just finished my tin of this, and I definitely need to buy some more. For one thing, it’s a black tea that is smooth and sweet enough to drink plain. It never even occurs to me to add milk or sugar after taking a sip. The character changes on me a little every time I drink it; usually I get apples, sometimes berries, but today I’m getting a very creamy vanilla flavor and something tart, like tropical fruit.
I generally get a second steep that is weaker but still very much worth drinking. At $2.18/oz (for the large tin) this might need to be a staple in my cupboard.
Teabird - Reviewer - Steepster.com
It’s an extraordinarily pretty tea shot through with ribbons of yellow, red, and blue petals. The tea smells sweet like berries. The liquor is reddish like good brandy (but not as dark as brandy). The taste is like sweet black tea flavored lightly with strawberries.
Carolyn - Reviewer - Steepster.com
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