Northern Tea Merchants: Rose Congou Tea

(Rose Congou in it's own caddy)

This morning, with great excitement, I took delivery of my latest order from Northern Tea Merchants.
Each month I treat myself to some of the wonderful tea's they have for sale.

When I browse their site (which is frequently) I often go with a set item in mind to purchase but, as normal for me, I get sidetracked by something else and end up buying something completely different to what I was planning to buy.

Rose Congou is a shining example of this. For months I've been meaning to purchase this lovely rose tea but got sidetracked by other items such as apple tea, strawberry tea, yunnan or keemun.

So, just recently I decided to purchase some of Northern Tea's Rose Congou - a lovely little tea that consists of Chinese black tea delicately blended with rose petals.

I will admit that I am slightly biased as I LOVE rose scented tea's. I love how the addition of rose petals makes for a delicate, gentle and soft tea, whilst, at the same time, retaining the strength that you get from black tea.

But, in my opinion, rose tea, much like Earl Grey, is a tea that is easy to get wrong. And it can go very wrong.

I have tried rose tea's at the cheaper end of the market, like Twinings Rose Garden (which is actually very good) and some ridiculously expensive rose tea's which were foul.

A good rose tea will be delicately flavoured and moreish. A bad rose tea will be strong, taste artificial, and, at the very worst, will make you feel like you are drinking rose perfume. These sorts of tea's will leave a horrible astringent taste in your mouth and will put you off altogether.

But I never let one bad experience put me off. I love throwing myself into new blends or brands so I couldn't wait to get stuck into Northern Tea's take on rose tea.

When I knew the tea was on it's way I found a spare caddy and washed it, so when the tea arrived the first thing I did was decant the tea from it's wrapping into a tin caddy. The aroma of the tea is gorgeous.

Placing the tea into the caddy also allowed me to get a full picture of the tea and though this tea was not lacking in rose petal's, it was not over running with them either. This is a good sign. The more evenly balanced the tea to rose petal ratio is, the more even the flavour will be. Too few petal's mean's lack of flavour, too many means rose flavour overkill, thus leading to a perfume like taste.

I used my new tea friend - my Sage Tea Maker - and set the timer to infuse for three minutes.

It was totally fun to watch this tea infuse. It's lovely to see the tea swirl in with the water. It's a magical experience which I never get bored of watching.

Once brewed the tea takes on a lovely, sparkling golden colour.  And oh, the aroma. It's gorgeous. I love the element of turkish delight this tea has - all the benefits and none of the calories, you can't go wrong!

So, what of the taste?

I was enthralled with this tea from the first sip. I suppose, due to my previous experiences of rose tea, I wasn't too sure what to expect. But, and this is the norm for Northern Tea, I was not let down.

First of all the quality of the base tea, a Chinese black tea, is gorgeous. It's quite strong but is well rounded. There is no bitterness to the tea at all, due to the quality and it being brewed correctly. It leaves a wonderful feeling in the mouth. It's refreshing and light and is the perfect partnership to the rose petals.

The blending of the rose petal's into the tea is perfect. There is a wonderful fragrant, floral element to this tea as well as a sweetness that is mouthwatering. There is enough rose flavour to be enjoyable, but not too much to make it unpleasant. I was so happy to have tried this tea and so pleased that it was so utterly lovely.

Rose Cognu IS THE PERFECT blend to serve for afternoon tea. Imagine sitting out in your garden, in the spring or summer, with your best vintage tea service and a plateful of homemade scones and other dainty cakes. Well, that is how, on this grey, wet and miserable evening, I imagine drinking this tea. But, until the weather improves, I'm happy to drink it in front of Poirot, curled up on the sofa, with a healthy yoghurt by my side!

Rose Gognu is best served black. Don't make the mistake I made of drinking rose tea with milk. I did this many years ago with Twining's Rose Garden. Milk does not sit well with the rose flavour and it put me off for a entire tea drinking year. Do not do that to yourself, take it without milk. It is down to personal taste of course, but it's just a helpful hint!

I would highly recommend you giving this tea a try. It's available in various sizes as well so if you are unsure you can get it in 50g's. (Though once tried, I can guarantee you'll be hooked!).

I fell in love with this tea, and I'm positive the gentle, floral twang to this tea will make you fall in love with it also. This is the perfect tea to unwind with at the end of a busy day. And is a joy to drink.

You see, it's tea's like Northern Tea's Rose Gognu that make me continually love tea. To experience something so glorious is an experience never to be forgotten.