So this was another impulse buy on my Florida Vacation, and I am still trying to curb the tea purchasing and opening new ones while others live on my shelf unfinished. I am happy to say, that today I was able to finish off other teas and open this one!
The smell of the dried leaves is overwhelming. It smells creamy, strawberry, coconut, a hint of hibiscus and rose, some lavender. The leaves are beautiful: little black curls mixed with red pieces, small slivers of coconut, and purple-blue leaves.
I took two heaping spoonfuls and added them to my pot, hot water, no additives. I originally intended to infuse for the full five minutes, however as it was infusing the lavender/hibiscus/rose scent liberated and I got concerned of bitterness, so I cut my infusion to three minutes.
The liquor is a dark color, somewhat like spiced rum, guess that was intentional. The odor is still the lavender and hibiscus with the powdery rose note and unfortunately, I am having a lot of trouble getting passed that smell. The flavor seems to not really be anything, a bit of strawberry, a hint of coconut, and then the familiar bitterness of lavender/hibiscus and a smack of black tea.
I do not like rose, I do not seek out hibiscus on it’s own either, and to be perfectly honest, I cannot stand lavender. I wouldn’t say this tea is bad, because it’s not, it’s just not my cup of tea (pun intended) – I would not typically drink/enjoy this regardless of the name because it is just too floral for me.
Oh well…
