smith & hsu is a chain of tearooms + tea store in Taiwan. I had afternoon tea at one of their tearoom in Taipei a few months ago, which was a very enjoyable experience because they served seriously good food (their scones were even better than those I had in England) and tea. I purchased this box of fruit tea partly because I wanted a souvenir to remind myself of the good time there, and also because I was hopelessly in love with the design of its packaging and the captivating berry-licious aroma!
Unfortunately, like most other fruit teas, its fruity (berry) flavour turned out to be too intense and tart for my liking. At least, that was my conclusion when I drank it for the first time. The whole box of tea has remained untouched ever since… until now. I need to finish my tea collection ASAP so I will have a legitimate reason to buy new teas (Though the truth is that I just keep buying whether I have a good reason or not… :P)!
This time I tried to shorten the steeping time a bit, from the recommended 6 mins to 5 mins. I also started drinking only after 15 minutes, when the tea had cooled down a bit. This strategy seemed to work: the tea was still powerfully fruity, but was less tart. I could even detect a hint of sweet berry flavour! It’s not something I would like to drink on a daily basis, but now I am confident that I can finish the whole box. ;) GREAT!
