Woo, sipdown! Heading into work for a while, so thought I’d brew up a few fruity things to take with me, and this one struck my interest. I seem to recall not loving it before (checks previous note, confirmed), and it looks like astringency was my biggest foe, not flavouring. So, a shorter infusion time it is! I’ve been tending to brew flavoured blacks on the low end of infusion times quite a bit lately, so it’s not surprising that this would be the case.
As per last time, the dry tea is strongly strawberry-scented and nuttily caramelly. Unquestionably a dessert tea. Steeped, same deal. I probably should have compared this just for curiousity’s sake to the last bit of Strawberry Zabaglione that Azzrian sent me, but too late now.
Taste-wise, I think I like this much better than last time. I am definitely getting shortcakey flavours, and can clearly taste the strawberry, although it’s still lighter than I’d prefer (I loved piling up the strawberries on my shortcake…) There’s just a bit of astringency, but given that this tea is recommended to be drank with a hint of cream to fully round out the strawberry shortcake flavour, I suspect that addition would eliminate it entirely. The tea is also obviously sweetened due to the nut brittle, so it works very well as a dessert tea.
I think this tea deserves a ratings nudge (at least into that darker shade of green (aka 76 vs. 73) as it’s really rather successful at what it’s attempting to be. I’d certainly drink this again, as long as the infusion time was strictly adhered to. Nice treat on a soggy day! (Speaking of that, I am sooooo not looking forward to my 10K race tomorrow… it’s supposed to be icky and rainy and cold. No personal best record-setting tomorrow, I would imagine…)