Periwinkle is a black Assam tea blended with vanilla bits and white tea leaf flowers. This loose leaf blend is from The Persimmon Tree.
I’ve had only a couple black and white tea blends. One that sticks to my mind is DavidsTea’s Checkmate, a black & white tea blend with chamomile and coconut, which is pretty good. Black and white tea blends seem unusual – they are like polar opposites of dark rich tea vs. gentle floral tea, but somehow work. Anyways, when The Persimmon Tree released some new teas recently, Periwinkle was a must try for me – The Persimmon Tree has some great blends!
Dry Leaf: Opening the tin, YUM! Smells strongly like baked goods loaded with vanilla.
However, I was slightly disappointed when I found I only have one intact white tea leaf flower in my entire tin. I have a couple pieces of broken leaves of white tea, but my tin was pretty much all black tea. Such an unlucky Owl. It happens. Well, I’ll use that white tea in my first small pot of tea.
Steeping Instructions: I steeped this tea at 200F for 4 minutes. The tin and website mention 195F or 205F as other temperatures one can use.
Periwinkle steeps up to a rich burnt brown cup of tea that smells bold and vanilla sweet.
Taste: Rich, bold earthy-strong black tea balanced with a smooth sweet mid sip. Periwinkle ends with a slightly sweet floral twinge and 3/10 Bitter-o-meterness. I’m not sure if the bitter is from the black tea or the white tea being steeped too hot. Either way, this tea is bait for sweetener or milk.
Sweetened: The rich earth black tea is even more smooth with the entire sip popping with creamy sweet vanilla flavor. The german rock sugar really works well! The bitterness is down to a 1/10. I enjoy the vanilla flavors.
Latte: Latte? Yes please! I made this tea latte with fat free soymilk and german rock sugar. Periwinkle latte is fantastic! It’s like drinking vanilla cream! I can still taste the black tea base, but it is pretty background. Not tasting any white tea essence, but I didn’t have any white tea bits for this scoop of loose leaf.
Comments: Periwinkle is very rich, nice black tea base, with a desserty yummy vanilla flavor. In my opinion, this tea is fantastic sweetened and even better as a latte. The latte I made tasted better than what I’ve had in coffee shops! I’ll be drinking the rest of this tea as a latte!
Black tea and coffee drinkers! I think this tea is for you, check it out!
(tea provided for review)
