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November 03, 2004
Bouquet of Flowers Tea
Name: Bouquet of Flowers Tea
Kathy's Rating: 6.5/10.0
Company: Kousmichoff Tea
Origin of tea: France
Price: ~$12/125g (4.4oz)
Tea form: Loose black tea blend with natural flavoring
What they say: From Kousmichoff & Sons, founded in 1867 in St. Petersburg and revived in 1920 in Paris. Bouquet of Flowers features a blend of China, India and Ceylon teas with natural scents of lemon, bergamot, orange, lime and mandarin orange.
Preparation method: Boil water and pour over tea. Steep for 4-6 minutes.
Review: This is a full-bodied black tea with strong aromas of sweet citrus - not the sour citrus taste of herbal citrus teas. If you're a person who likes to get some caffeine in the morning, this would be a good breakfast tea for you. Just let the tea steep for a bit longer than 4-6 minutes to get a stronger flavor and more caffeine. I like this tea because it is vastly different from the Chinese and Japanese teas I usually drink. It feels like a special occasion, "there needs to be pastries served with the tea" kind of tea, but I digress. It stands fine on its own. One thing I've noticed with this tea: the leaves are very finely chopped, so make sure you are using a strainer or infuser of some type so that you're not sipping bits of the tea. Dilligent readers will notice that this review is very similar to my review of Prince Vladimir Tea, also from Kousmichoff Tea. The ingredients are almost exactly the same, except Bouquet of Flowers contains more citrus components, and no vanilla flavoring. Overall, Bouquet of Flowers is more mild in taste than Prince Vladimir. Unfortunately, like Price Vladimir tea, Bouquet of Flowers is flavored tea. Flavoring is a way to cut production costs of tea making - one that I disapprove of in a tea that is marketed for upscale grocers. That's why this tea was rated a 6.5/10.0. I expect more out of an upscale (more expensive) tea.
Posted by Kathy at November 3, 2004 07:43 PM