I have already had an upsetting amount of coffee today and the caffeine rush has passed, time for something calming and soothing. The raw tea smells like a chap stick – the pink “cherry” one that smells like artificial cherry and fruit and wax. This is most likely because I have no idea just how old it is, and it has been in the plastic pouch neighboring four other Tea Frog teas in my tea basket. I feel since I did not repackage them, that they have all melded in aroma. Oh well. I am not put-off by the smell, but the ingredients have me a little wary. There is a lot in here that could get bitter very easily…
That in mind, I go for a small batch, 1 tsp tea, hot water, no additives, infusion time: 3.5 minutes. The liquor is very pink. The aroma has liberated more, I smell hibiscus and citrus. The flavor is surprisingly mild, there is a slight tang to it, I wouldn’t say tart (I don’t think I let it infuse long enough to get tart) but a tang, most likely coming from hibiscus and rosehips. The flavor after the tang is predominantly mango, then a spike of pineapple and papaya flavors finished off by a high citrus note, most likely from the orange peel.
I don’t think this was bad. I think this needs some work. I think that this blended with a green tea or a white tea, maybe some sweetener, and maybe iced would be extremely refreshing. I did not try it this way, I should have enough to do so later…
