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YAY! I’m the first to review my tea creation! What started out as mixing grapefruit and maple, turned into Grapefruit Creme Brûlée. I remember having grapefruit halves with brown sugar on them and broiled a little, with a cherry in the middle, every time we would go to visit my grandma in South Florida. I never really liked grapefruit then, but I had always liked it when she made it. Grandmas are magical, yo! :P I have since grown to like them more, but I have to be in the right mood for them sometimes, and this way of making them is, and has always been, my favourite. I liked the Grapefruit Dragon green tea that Stacy made, so I thought this would be done well too, and it was. Was there any doubt?

So on to the tea. This is my first CTC, at least in loose form. It’s possible that I have had it in a bagged tea, unknowingly, and if so, I did not know anything about CTC then anyway. What I am picking up is a deep rich black tea flavour, with some lightly smokey and bitterness…the description for the base (Crimson Horizon) mentions burnt chocolate, and I can get behind that. My mouth feels really juicy, and almost acidic on my tongue! It also mentions bergamot, and I can kind of detect a tiny floral note like that, but I’m not sure I’d’ve picked out that one on my own. It mingles with the grapefruit quite nicely.

I usually find the blends I get from Stacy to have smooth and subtle bases, but this one, WOW, it is pretty bold. Between the CTC Crimson Horizon base, and the tangy grapefruit, it is a surefire wake up sunny breakfast tea. All this flavour in just a single minute steep! I think that in the future, I will stick to 1 level tsp, even if I am making a mug’s worth, just to tone down some of the bitterness. I don’t mind some, because hey, grapefruit IS bitter, but I’d like to see if I can get a better balance of flavors with a little less leaf. I decided to add some organic cane sugar, and later I added a tiny bit of milk…no curdling. I like the milk addition…it does something that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Well done, me, and Stacy of course. This tea is lovely and can’t wait to cold steep or ice it and maybe make it with sweetened condensed milk over the summer.