Fortnum & Mason Tea Advent Calendar - Day 3 Rose Pouchong


 I admit, I had to look up what on earth "Pouchong" is.  When I looked it up, I discovered that it is the old romanization of something I am more familiar with - Baozhong.  For those of you who aren't aware, Baozhong is an oolong that is on the green side - both in color and in flavor.  It hails from either Taiwan or Fuijan and it's honestly halfway between standard green and standard oolong.  The leaf is twisted rather than rolled or pearled and has natural floral notes.

Honestly, the natural floral notes really do lend the tea to being blended with additional florals.  As such, I was excited to try Baozhong blended with rose petals.

My excitement was justified.  This is a LOVELY blend!



As usual, I read the brewing instructions before the flavour write up - and since I agreed with the brewing directions, I followed them to the letter.  Dad distracted me while I was steeping, so I ALMOST left the bag in too long - but I caught it in time and avoided an oversteep thank goodness!


I sipped it a few times straight off the steep and then read the write up.  I didn't taste any caramel notes in the blend, but I WAS getting the bitterness of dark chocolate under the rose - which while not utterly unpleasant in the blend, was not my favorite.  So, I added a spoonful of half and half.  As soon as I had added the cream, the bitter dark chocolate flavor utterly vanished and the caramel came popping out in all the best creamy ways!

Floral teas are always a tricky thing.  Rose in particular has three levels 1) there's rose in this? 2)Oooo delicious rose! and 3)WTF this isn't tea this is perfume!!  Blessedly, the rose level in this tea is at level 2 - a delicious additional and complimentary layer in the flavor of the tea blend.  Now, sometimes, creaming a tea with rose can turn the floral notes oddly funky - making it reminiscent of those old lady milk and rose cream soap bars.  That does NOT happen here.  The cream takes a bit of edge off of the nose of the tea and mellows the rose ever so slightly to allow more of the other natural floral notes of the tea to come through - meaning that this is delicious warm and would be amazing as a milk tea or an iced tea with milk.


Honestly, most teas I have that add rose to the blend are black tea based - and while that's nice, more often than not, the rose there is used as a way to take the edge off the harsh black tea.  As such, the rose and the tea are in a battle for dominance.  With this baozhong oolong, it's not at all a battle - the tea and the rose are both milder and have come together to blend together and compliment each other.  It's relaxing and soothing and refreshing.


Final thoughts:  the best tea with rose additive I've had in recent memory.  Definitely a blend to consider purchasing in a full tin size.

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