"Golden Pearls is a must for specialty black tea aficionados! The experience begins with the beautifully hand rolled, golden colored pearls. Infused these delicate leaves unfurl to reveal a medium bodied Chinese Yunnan black tea. The many layers of taste unfold as you drink, with a desirable sweet lingering on the palate." (From the Teas Etc. website)

I love tea pearls. They create a charming presentation, a bit of mystery to start, a little magic as they unfurl. This tea is no exception to that. I guess I lead a sheltered life, but I think most of the teas I've seen pearled were jasmines. Well, just my personal preference, but there need to be more pearled teas. No good reason, I just think they're brilliant.

Now, back to Teas Etc. Golden Pearls. Charming little balls of mixed gold and black, these are just a bit smaller than most jasmine pearls I've seen, half to two-thirds the size of a pencil eraser. They're also a bit more crumbly than jasmine pearls, as though they weren't rolled quite as tightly. None of that really matters, just a description of the tea. A delicious honey-like fragrance upon opening the bag, just a totally promising experience before I ever got the water on to boil.

A small rant here -- I WISH MORE TEA VENDORS WOULD OFFER BREWING INSTRUCTIONS. With the myriad teas on the market now, the customer can't reasonably be expected to know all the nuances. And, with the prices you pay for tea nowadays, it can get pricey to experiment until you figure it out. Okay, that's that.

With no brewing instructions on this tea, I tried to base it on typical black tea procedures. As I said, these pearls are smaller, so I finally settled on about seven for my mom's eight ounce cup, about fifteen for my half liter heavy clay stein/mug. Fully boiling water and between five and six minutes of steeping. I chose to add sugar to the honey-smelling, amber golden brew, because that's what we do in this house.

I really liked this tea. The Teas Etc. description is right on the money. The "delicate leaves unfurl to reveal a medium bodied Chinese Yunnan black tea." That's exactly what happens, in a very charming way. This isn't a slap-your-face strong tea. It's delicate, without being the least bit wimpy. Just a layered, honey sweetness that stays with you long after you're done drinking. This is an aikido tea; it works with you and gets inside your palate to give you what fits, what suits your energy, and before you know it, you're on the mat. I drank a mug before going to bed and slept with no problem.

I brewed another mug as a wakeup call, and its doing that well. I added blackberry honey this time, to see if the flavors would meld or clash. Unfortunately, the honey didn't quite fit; The two flavors seem to cancel each other out and you lose the subtlety of this tea.

I would definitely recommend and purchase this tea. Unfortunately, it's a bit out of my price range, at least with the way I drink tea. It doesn't seem to be a good candidate for repeated brewings, so I would go through a 3oz. tin (at $19.95) in a week. I would rate this tea more highly if it weren't for the price and the single brewings. That said, this is a specialty tea, and a rarity (subtletea? specialtea? raritea?), so if you have the money, it's a fair price.

Special Offer! For a limited time, Teas Etc is offering deep discounts on their product line. If you're interested in purchasing this tea or others from Teas Etc, shop now by clicking this link: Teas Etc

Patty Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Patty's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Patty.

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