Well, I'm a tea addict. Could be where I work or I finally found my true caffeine addiction (ironically I'm not a huge coffee drinker). So I decided to review some teas that I got at a local shop that just opened. The great thing about these teas was I did not have to buy a whole box but rather bought these ridiculously cute single serving tea bags that came in there own single serving boxes. The teas are from the brand Revolution Tea and the website is
http://www.revolutiontea.com/1. Royal Plum Decaf Tea
Smelled like a luscious vanilla plum. Gorgeous fragrance. The flavor left a lot to be wanted indistinct black tea and no real flavor of the plum.
2. Bombay Chai Tea
Scent heavy on the cloves in fact reminds me of cloves cigarettes while dry, brewed scent dissipated. Flavor: No spiciness in the cup of chai and the assam was very light missing the malty goodness of assam
3. White Tangerine Tea
On box proudly displays the juicy tangerine quality of this tea. Scent when dry: I smell no tangerine. Scent when brewed: I still smell no tangerine. Flavor: No tangerine and this doesn't taste like a white tea but almost like a really really mild brew of Sleepy Time Tea.
Verdict: Revolution tea is not for me. A lot of talk but no deliverence of flavor. Proudly they talk of the fine mesh bag and loose leaf tea within bag but really there is not much to be proud of. I've had cheaper tea bags and cheaper teas produce more flavor than this. In fact I would take Celestial Seasoning's Bengal Spice over their chai .
Earlier this year I wrote about my experience with Serge Luten's Five O'Clock au Gingembre and how I wanted to wear it while eating pain d'epice, dark chocolate, stem ginger preserves, and a cup of Russian Caraven. Well I did it today without the chocolate and ginger preserves, the effect was intensely spicy and wonderfull soothing, the pain d'epice went perfectly with smoky Russian Caravan, the Five O'Clock au Gingembre adding beautiful tangy piquant fresh ginger note. I suspect part of this experiment owes credit to Chandler Burr who over the years has hosted dinners centered around the concept of pairing fragrances with dishes (one of my wishes is to go to one of these) and his statement a little while ago while doing a review of Ambre Narguile that he enjoys it most by wearing it during meals finding that it enhances the gustatory experience. I think he is on to something with this last part considering I find wearing Ambre Narguile puts me in the mood to cook; last nights pain d'epice and the caramelized apples a little while ago.
So I finally got my order decants from Fishbone (by the way she is awesome). I ordered a decant of Hermes Osmanthe Yunnan unsniffed she reduced the price heavily and I could not pass it up (this is also my first Hermes from the special collection). So this is an interesting take on osmanthus, starts off with the smoky tea note that definately has an anamalic musk note going through it. Enter the freesia and orange which when intertwined give this fragrance a hint of pine, and finally the lovely osmanthus in all its leather apricot glory. This is a bit of a smoke and mirrors fragrance with its opening. Interesting I have some Peet's Osmanthus Yunnan tea and well I am going to have to get that out.
