Lori

Lori: It really is quite common for pear teas to have apple bits in the blend rather than pear bits, because dried pear bits are more difficult to come by, and they tend to be a bit “stickier” than dried apple bits. Since the fruit bits have very little to do with the actual taste of the tea and are there simply for visual enjoyment, many tea manufacturers will use dried apple bits rather than pear bits in their pear tea blends.

Ah-ha- so the flavor is in the oils!

No pear? I hate false advertising. If there are is a pear oil in it, then fine (but still don’t put in the apple)… but if not, call it apple.

“Art of Tea sells a Green Tea- Pear blend. Personally, this would have been my preference. I could get the delightful pear flavor, no rooibos, AND green tea….” YES! I do not like rooibs (at least red, I haven’t tried green yet) and I do not like that most dessert “teas” are rooibos (or honeybush) based. There are wonderful true tea dessert teas out there.

How is that false advertising? It doesn’t claim to have pear bits in it.

A pear tea can be a pear tea without pear bits in it. The apple bits does not make it an apple flavored tea. The flavoring of a tea comes from flavoring oils that the tea leaves are treated with … not from the little bits and pieces in a tea.

Exactly. I have an Earl Grey le Creme tea which is just black tea, flavoring oils, and cornflowers….would that be “false advertising” because it doesn’t have pieces of, um, bergamot and cream in it, and has pieces of cornflowers? No.

That’s why I said if there’s pear oil in it then it’s fine (idk where does that “are” comes from lol)… but I still think it’s dumb to put apple in a pear tea w/o calling it an apple pear tea. (And yes my tongue picks up on the flavors of bits- but if it didn’t I think it’s unneccesary to put something in that does not contribute to the flavor.)

Well, how do you know the flavor was from the bits and not the added flavoring? :)

Liberteas, In some of my flavored teas I notice bits of stuff that look like apple in it quite often. I always thought maybe those bits hold the oils that help to flavor the tea??

Shanti, cuz in this tea I’d almost bet I’d be able to detect both flavors.

SoccerMom: it would really depend upon how the tea is flavored… tea leaves are extraordinarily absorbent… much more so than a bit of dried apple (or any other fruit or other bit you might find in tea that is not tea leaf). This is why you can often achieve multiple infusions from teas but not so much from fruit or herbal tisanes… because typically the fruit and herbs cannot hold on to flavors quite as well as tea leaves can.

I always assumed the apples were for added sweet?

AmazonV – this can be the case as well. That is why I add them to my Chocolate Rose Romance. Apple flavoring from apple bits is extraordinarily soft if at all existent in the cup. But they do add a gentle sweetness that is achieved naturally, and it enhances the other flavors of the flavored tea.

I always find it even more interesting when a flavor comes from something that isn’t contained as an ingredient.