Hide

Welcome to Steepster, an online tea community.

Write a tea journal, see what others are drinking and get recommendations from people you trust. or Learn More

Tia Lilly's Tea Passion Fruit from Tia Lilly's Tea Company
40

The Monsoon season finally began in the Rockies! Thunder, lightening and rain! Ba Boom!

I didn’t grow up in a place where lightening comes to the ground, so today when I was on Steepster just sitting on my couch looking at my Kindle Fire by my big window a huge bolt came Zip Zing down in the street outside with a Zap Crash that scared me so badly that I bolted and ran into the hall with my cup of tea. If anyone had a camera, I think I could qualify for the cat photo contest that Verdant has going on. A very scared cat cowering in a ball on the floor with big round eyes!

Things did eventually calm down. Drats, I was out of food! Venturing out was brave I think for an ex-California gal. But out I went.

When I grocery shop at Sunflower Natural Market I always meander over to the cold beverage case and look over the chilled tea to see what’s new and what’s local. I found some bottled tea’s that were from Arizona which borders Colorado. They said ‘Unsweetened’ and ‘Brewed in the Bottle’. Hum. No artificial flavors either (mumbling to myself) so I bought one.

I was lazy and picked up a roast chicken with no seasoning. Who does that? No seasoning (I get to do it!). 1 bird = 4 meals for me.

Later, after roasty chicken, I opened up the cold tea and took a long cool blasty drink.
A long cold…unimpressive blasty drink of sour unflavored fruity tea that could be passion fruit I suppose maybe.
The tea smelled more apple, pear and maybe there is passion fruit. Well, to tell the truth it smells like Motts applesauce but tastes very sour.
And tastes like Motts applesauce when you doctor it with sweetening like I did. It was just tooooo sour to drink without sweetening. Yucky!

Here’s the deal. Some fruit you can’t leave in the bottle too long because it gets sour. Unless you temper it with another fruit or sweeten it, bad things happen. Adding black tea didn’t help this fruit. The tannin created a mixture that could take grime off furniture.

Sorry Tia Lilly…this was not a happy unsweetened passion fruit flavor tea experience!

Wah wah :(

People who liked this

ashmanra
Azzrian
Tabby
LiberTEAS
Hesper June
Michelle
Missy
K S
momo
ScottTeaMan
kOmpir
DaisyChubb
Daniel Scott
Indigobloom
Stoo
Kittenna
Angrboda
TheTeaFairy
Invader Zim
chrine

Comments

K S
K S 2012-07-07 07:20:02 -0400

Hallelujah for the rain! We stand a slight chance tomorrow. We are starting to get small fires breaking out around here. He had the driest month ever recorded in Indiana during June. Usually it is one of our wetter months.

I love to watch storms unless it hits the TV tower and sends sparks through the house. Several years ago it actually hit so hard it welded a skillet to the burner. Cat eyes indeed.

As for this tea – I think this is the first really negative review I have seen from you. Rejoice you don’t have to drink bad tea too often! Grab something you know you love and leave this one behind.

Bonnie
Bonnie 2012-07-07 08:55:58 -0400

I did upset The Tea Spot with a review about sour tea the other day. So here’s why I’m not super negative, I can’t just judge a tea on personal taste and mark it down. Something else has to be wrong with it! Sourness, weak, bitter, horrid blending …something.

DaisyChubb
DaisyChubb 2012-07-07 10:56:56 -0400

I might go so far to say that is the blessing and curse of having tea companies active on Steepster. So many positive aspects – and the communication and care some companies put in to responding to reviews is unheard of in other businesses! The only downside (in my opinion!) is the feeling of being watched and not wanting to start a conflict with a negative review. I don’t want to feel like I censor myself, but I think I do sometimes! Just speaking from my experience – I don’t think that’s what others do as well, it’s just something I’ve come to discover about myself (self awareness). Now I’m just rambling!

Bonnie
Bonnie 2012-07-07 12:25:47 -0400

I have made it absolutely clear that if I receive a tea from any company to review (I don’t care who it is) I am going to give an honest opinion! Fortunately the tea I receive is usually some of the finest. That could change at any time though. What I won’t do is inflate a review. Why? What would be the point? I am looking always for the tea’s that speak to me wherever they come from. The other recreational fun flavored tea’s I’m not expecting quite as much from but still…I expect care and service.

Bonnie
Bonnie 2012-07-07 12:30:30 -0400

And ….I pour myself out into a review which is hard to do if you are insincere and a phony. Now I’m rambling!

K S
K S 2012-07-07 14:12:32 -0400

I grade on a curve. A simple bagged tea can get a high score from me if it is good at what it is. Same with entry level loose leaf. Is that fair to the more expensive loose teas? My thought is it is a different audience with different expectations. Some (a few/lots, I don’t know) here probably disagree. But, yeah, sometimes bad is bad. Lord I was born a ramblin man..

Bonnie
Bonnie 2012-07-08 09:20:46 -0400

On the other hand these companies are trusting us to be honest with our reviews and have invested much effort in creating /procuring tea. That’s a lot of power and responsibility! We shouldn’t forget and bash on a whim or because we had a bad day which I’ve seen before!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Colorado Grandma
http://www.teaandincense.com
Grandmother to 3 tea drinking teenaged girls and 3 young tea drinking boys. I began teatime as in the Summer over 30 years ago when my children were little. We took a break from play for tea and snacks and to chat every day. They loved tea time.
We have several tea houses close to my home and a Tea Festival in Boulder. Fort Collins is a bit of a foodie town. We brew lots of Beer (Fat Tire is one brand) and have several Spice Shops (Savory is the one featured on Food Network).
Colorado State University is a mile from my home and the Rocky Mountains climb higher at the end of my block. The climate here is semi-arid with LOTS OF SUN AT 5000 feet. (Heavy Winter snows start in the higher elevations). After living my whole life in Northern California (Silicon Valley) I have to admit that I LOVE IT HERE!!!
I attend a wonderful Greek Orthodox Church and enjoy cooking ethnic foods (all kinds). I am disabled with Migraines and Fibromyalgia!
My family is Bi-racial ( African-American, Scots) and Bi-cultural, (Peruvian, Cyprus, France, Mexico, Native American)
I’ve worked at a Winery, was a Special Ed. Major, Telecom and System Analyst, Won Cooking Contests, been an Athlete and Coach, Artist, Pianist, Vista Volunteer. I love to travel and have been to Italy, Greece, Peru, Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, Malta, Canada, Croatia and Turkey! If you check the bio page below…the photo is one from my trip to Santorini, Greece. I took the photo. OPA!

Location

Fort Collins,Colorado

Website

http://www.teaandincense.com

Following These People

Erin
Erin

University student a...

DaisyChubb
DaisyChubb

You can call me Dais...

TheTeaFairy
TheTeaFairy

I am French Canadian...

tigress_al
tigress_al

Hello, I am a nurse...

JacquelineM
JacquelineM

I love to cook, bake...

TeaVivre
TeaVivre

Hello, I am Angel Ch...

Spoonvonstup
Spoonvonstup

I generally drink Ch...

Mercuryhime
Mercuryhime

I came from a tea dr...

Ninavampi
Ninavampi

I love tea and have ...

SimpliciTEA
SimpliciTEA

(Updated 4-21-2012) ...

KeenTeaThyme
KeenTeaThyme

Hello fellow tea fan...

Dinahsaur
Dinahsaur

There's not a lot to...

Angrboda
Angrboda

Angrboda felt her bi...

BTVSGal
BTVSGal

I'm a lover of all t...

Invader Zim
Invader Zim

I'm an avid tea drin...

Infusin_Susan
Infusin_Susan

I like strong, robus...

ashmanra
ashmanra

I am a music teacher...

momo
momo

bears love tea

See More