Snow Geisha (Teavana)

White teas are delicate and pure. Their flavor profile is full of subtleties and natural sweetness. With the addition of both floral and fruit items to make this Snow Geisha blend from Teavana, they hope to attract a wider audience.

Visually this tea is stunning. The white tea leaves (I saw no buds) combined with large sour cherries, mango and pineapple pieces as well as hibiscus blossoms and rosehips and other items for a visually active blend.

The dry aroma smells heavily of fruit and reminds me most of papaya or guava, though neither exist in this tea. Once brewed the aroma becomes much more floral. The rosehips come out most readily with the hibiscus not far behind.

Producing a very very light yellow-orange liquor, the flavors get complicated. There’s an unexpected astringency here which I blame the citrus peels (orange and lemon) for. I don’t sense any mango smoothness or natural sweetness from the hibiscus. Instead I mostly get the sour cherry and rose petal coming through.

Snow Geisha causes a notable dryness of the palate which I also did not expect for a white tea.

While the aroma was satisfying I would have liked less complication in this blend flavor-wise. Maybe drop the fruit peels and the rosehips and see how that turns out. As it is, I felt this blend fell short of my expectations.

Fans of fruity teas may like this blend, but be forewarned some sweetener may be handy to keep this tea from drying your palate too much.