I ordered several samples from this tea company about a year ago and promptly forgot them. This sample bag had been opened when I decided to try it again this morning. It came in a brown paper, foil-lined, ziploc packet, which was zipped, so I am hoping the flavor will still be pretty true.
I brewed it for about 5 minutes. The color is a deep red bordering on bugundy — thanks to the hibiscus, I am sure. I remember selecting this blend because of the tropical notes, especially the pineapple.
It is quite tart! I don’t smell the pineapple or coconut much. Maybe a bit of the apple. I do see some pretty large chunks of pale fruit in the steepings (word?) and when I fished one out it was apple.
This is the last of the packet. Depending on what I think of the rest of my aging samples, which are mostly unopened, I may order another sample of this one to see whether the pineapple and coconut flavors did degrade over time. They do have a number of tasty-sounding “fruit melanges” listed on their website.
