Let's start with the Tea on the skin part...
I bought at Canadian Superstore (a while ago) 2 Demeter Cologne Spray bottles. One is Dragon Fruit and the other is Green Tea.
I recently visited the Demeter website (http://www.demeterfragrance.com/) and looked up a great deal of their selection. A few where about teas and tisane so I rounded up what I found!
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| From Demeter website |
I've only tried the Green Tea one, but I can assure you it's nice. If you like light and sweet (and tea!) that's a great choice. It even got a 5 stars rating!
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| From Demeter website |
Then there is the Earl Grey one. I'm really curious about this one, but reviews say 3 stars and half. I guess it means it's not for everyone and may annoy you. Unless you really dig Earl Grey tea.
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| From Demeter website |
Chai tea can be customized in so many ways that I really don't know what to expect of this fragrance... I've had some Masala chai with chili peppers and Bailey's in it. So it makes me wonder how spicy and milky this one smells. Again, a rating of 3 stars and a half. I wish I could sample it... Smelling like Chai tea sounds wonderful!
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| From Demeter website |
Now onto the tisane (herbal tea) section! Coriander has had a better rating than the Earl Grey and Chai Teas with 4 stars! Coriander isn't for everyone and if I'm not mistaken that's the herb they put in my beloved Pho soups (Vietnamese type of soup)! I don't know if I'd like to wear that and my husband totally hates the stuff, but I totally get a kick out of trying something new! Hop! On my wishlist!
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| From Demeter website |
Chamomile Tea is great at helping you relax whenever, but especially taken before bed. With a rating of 4 stars, I would most likely buy it to spray on my sleeping pillow. That would be a change from the lavender one I've used for years. Spraying (or imbibing!) a little cushion-pouch with it and then slipping it under your pillow would be a fantastic idea. I'm sold!
Demeter has a WIDE range of smells, from funeral house, to soil, to provence meadows... It's also a good gift for a mom that loves flowers as they have such a great selection! Lilac smells so heavenly! Too bad the fragrance doesn't fit me. I can still use it for the bathroom or as normal air freshener though.
And now, that white tea review you've been waiting for!
Nan Mei Wild Tree
China - Lincang region - Nan Mei valley
Purchased at the Camellia Sinensis
Purchased at the Camellia Sinensis
Given description on the website:
Grassy & peppery fragrances emanate from the infusion and its silky smooth liquor is citrusy, a characteristic flavour of wild tea. The minty finish is pleasant and refreshing.
Side note: When I will mention pepper and pepperiness as tasting or aroma notes, it's meant as a peppercorn kind of pepper, not a bell pepper.
Dry leaf:
- They look like open flowers, shaped like blades (that of a partisan or naginata)
- Each set of leaves has a bunch of leaves that look like they have grown inside one another like some Russian dolls sets (I've never seen tea leaves looking like that!)
- Fuzzy white duvet covers the light green-peach coloured leaves
- The leaves sets are hard at the base, but soft and tender at the tip
- They smell of hay, mint, green apples and sweet yellow tobacco (dried)
1st Steeping (一煎目):
45 seconds - 1 gaiwan filled with water - 3 tablespoons of tea - 75C
(Gaiwan technique)
Liquor:
- Clear and shiny
- Very pale yellow-peach colour. It looks like water to the unknowing eye...
- Peppery, dry hay, almost peachy smooth kind of smell. There is a sweetness like some mild smelling flowers... I'm thinking of edible flowers like orchids or something
- Sweet-sour juicy aroma like a pineapple/green apple mix
Taste:
- Peppery like pepper Jelly Bellys (I really can't shake that Jelly Belly taste now - For those who don't know them, they were part of the Bertie Bott's every flavoured beans from the Harry Potter movies, Jelly Belly tried to sell those and they had other flavours like grass, troll boogers, vomit, earthworms and green apple among other things)
- Mild, smooth and sweet flavour with a definite spiciness to it
- Flowing and somehow mouth watering
- It also reminds me of the grass jelly bellies (I guess I have a sweet tooth and strange tastes)
- The pepperiness really lingers at the back of the throat
- There's a mint finish, but I had to do a second cupping to notice it
- There's also that citrus taste, but it's more of a bitter citrus one like yuzu (Japanese citrus fruit)
2nd Steeping (二煎目):
30 seconds - 1 gaiwan filled with water - 3 tablespoons of tea - 75C
(Gaiwan technique)
Liquor:
- Clear & shiny
- Light pale yellow-peach colour
- Peppery-lemongrass aroma
- Weak sweet exotic fruit aroma
- Light astringency
- Peppery, light lemongrass flavours that linger
- Light hay flavour
- Sweet, smooth, lightly viscous, coating the back of the throat
3rd Steeping (三煎目):
30 seconds - 1 gaiwan filled with water - 3 tablespoons of tea - 75C
(Gaiwan technique)
Liquor:
- Clear & Shiny
- Very pale yellow-peach colour
- Lemongrass and light pepper aromas
- Light pepperiness, some lemongrass spiciness and light hay flavours
- Smooth, milder in taste
- Coats the mouth
- Light sweet-sour fruit in cheek that is pleasant
- Lingering minty finish
My reaction? "Love love it." It's a fantastic white tea. It's flavourful and complex. A real treat!
I gave it a 4.5/5 and I was being modest about it.
Now the wet leaves were interesting enough to also have a little mention here:
The fat little buds of light green to medium green colours are now tinged with a brown to deep red colour that is truly beautiful. And the smell! Oh, the smell! It smells wonderfully of lemongrass, maybe a bit of exotic fruits and definitely has a spiciness to it. As I mentioned, the citrusy part is more that of the yuzu fruit. It's not a sweet citrus aroma.
If you are interested in trying it out, the Camellia Sinensis sells it (that's where I got it from), they have a nice selection of white teas this year, so indulge!
Nan Mei Wild Tree White Tea Link
On this tea note, see you next time for a comparison between 2013 handpicked Shincha (still unopened) VS 2014 handpicked Shincha (just released and received)!
