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gurdymonkey
This is another one of the dragon balls I got from Yunnan Sourcing.
I started with a 30 second steep at 200F. The osmanthus petals quickly parted company with the balled tea in my gaiwan. When poured, the tea was a golden brown in the cup with good floral fragrance, though nowhere near as pronounced as any of the jasmines I've tried. The tea was light with a sweet finish on the back end.
Oldways Tea had a nice black tea with osmanthus that I tried previously, but this seems to have more of the flower petals in it.
The second steep at about 45 seconds allowed the ball to unfurl a bit, so the tea color darkened to a classic reddish brown and flavor was a bit deeper, still with the sweet finish and the light osmanthus fragrance. I think I like this better than the jasmines. (I had this with a slice of Earl Grey and raisin loaf and they paired nicely.)
The third and fourth steeps at 60 seconds produced a steady hold of the black tea flavor, but the osmanthus fragrance was just about gone.
If you're at all unsure about trying a flower infused tea, this would be a good way of trying it. The scent is not overpowering, and both Oldways and Yunnan Sourcing sell it in small, inexpensive quantities that are perfect for sampling.
