Dearest Friends of The Tearoom,
Everyone who attends my virtual tea parties here at The Tearoom knows that a great deal of dreaming goes into their planning. I find pastries and teas online, imagine how their combinations of flavors would taste and match them together for our virtual Salons de Thé. But most of the teas I write about are on my wishlist to be tried.
What a great opportunity is is for me to bring to you today a review of a very special tea from
Opus Oils of Los Angeles and Paris. I was sent a sample of their Absinthe Tea, along with my order of perfume samples, which I was testing for my use in a top secret art project. And, of course, being the creature of curiosity that I am, I had to explore their entire
website, which is really fun and glamourous!
Opus Oils creates highly creative and original scents and “Perfumed Teas, Hand Infused with Floral Absolutes”. I was very honored to have the chance to sample one of their Jitterbug Perfume Parlour Teas for myself.
This is what they had to say about their Absinthe Tea:
“Sweet & nostalgic, this unique black tea blend is delicious, enchanting, and extremely addictive…
Made with Green Pear Black Tea ~ Violet Black Tea ~ Vanilla Black Tea ~ Violet Leaf Absolute Infused Blue Malva flowers ~ Anise Seeds”
They have added just a few crystals of rock sugar to this tea when they blended it, so try it just as it is before adding anything else. (As one should always do when tasting either a tea or a coffee for the first time. Even if you dislike drinking your tea or coffee black, you will better appreciate the more subtle flavors and learn to identify them easier. As a fellow dreamer told me when he taught me to taste coffee, “Just close your eyes and listen...” And if you appreciate wine, you already know how to “listen”!).
This tea starts out with strong tannic notes, but the next note is a divine, complex combination of herbal, flowery and creamy notes, with just a touch of anise flavor. At this point, I added a bit of sugar to bring out these notes even more. (Of course you may add whatever sweetening you prefer, but I find white sugar is more neutral in flavor.) The black tea adds the rich, resinous base, followed up with the green herbal notes from the pear and violet leaf absolute, the deeply floral violet, the creamy, but exotic note of the vanilla and anise seeds for a final note of absinthe; a unique and luxurious experience. This is a tea to be savored, sipped slowly and as they say it is “extremely addictive”! This tea was delicious hot and they do suggest serving it iced as well. I’m certain that sipping it iced on a hot summer night would be a decadent experience!
Thank you to Lili of Opus Oils for letting me experience your beautiful and creative tea!
(And by the way, two nights after drinking this, I tasted it again, in a dream I had, so apparently, dreaming is essential to tea-tasting!)
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