513 Tasting Notes
This tea was certainly the start of a divisive night of tea tasting in our house! I smelled the dry leaves and thought it was a little heavier on berry than I had been hoping it would be. The BF smelled it and thought it was absolutely perfect. I brewed some tea up with a brew time that was a little on the short side for a lighter flavour (mate and I have a very tenuous relationship at the best of times). First sip I was unsure, but about a third of the way in I was in love. The berry smell that had been so predominant in the dry leaves had faded back into a mere hint of tart. In its place was a woodsy, smoky, liquor with really warm flavour notes. In short, I was thrilled, the bf took a sip and demanded to know where the berry had gone…. Repeated demands that he just try it again had little effect on changing his opinion. Currently, we have reached a stalemate, the tea is categorized as “my” tea and I eagerly await the day that he sees the light and recognizes this tea for its brilliance!
The more I drink this, the more I come to love it! It was my cup to take to work this morning and it did not disappoint. The warmth from the coconut and chocolate really come out with a bit of sugar and a longer steep time really lets the flavours come out. I will be drinking this in the morning more often!
Tonight I shook things up and tried this hot. Still such a versatile tisane! Whereas the cold brew turns downright sour (though not in a bad way, I like a good tart iced tea), brewing it hot beefs up the juicy strawberry notes and really tempers the tartness of the rhubarb. As a side benefit, my tea turned a gorgeous ruby colour! Too pretty!! I tend to shy away from drinking my fruity iced teas hot, but this may have just really convinced me to give it a shot more often! (My next plan is to toss in a tiny bit of Lemon Myrtle to round out the flavour just a pinch.)
This is not my day for tea today, or maybe I should just be more realistic about returning to teas that I didn’t immediately want to drink again after I tried them the first time. It appears I rated this tea rather high. Slightly more exposure to other tea flavours has convinced me this was a mistake. I will be taking the rating down accordingly.
I can not get enthused with this tea. I hot steeped, I cold steeped, I begged it to perform for me. All I get is grassy, muddled tea flavour, none of the kiwi I feel I was promised. If this were a straight green tea adventure, I would not be so harsh on it, but this promised tons of flavours I love and just did not deliver. The boyfriend is admittedly less harsh, so maybe I can convince him to finish the tea for me?
I keep trying to love this tea, but it is just really not much of a go in my world… I get all the flavours the description indicates I should be tasting, and the liquor is amazingly sweet, but the taste is just lacking to me. I find it too heavy on bananas and I don’t think I am the world’s biggest fan of banana flavour when it comes to tea in general. I have tried and tried with this tea but, compared to perennial favourites like Forever Nuts, this is just not looking like it will ever be a real favourite of mine. Oh well, there are many other teas in the world to love!
This was my evening cup of tea today. I tried this weeks ago, and didn’t think it was anything super special, but tonight I think I got the leaf amount and sugar ratio right. I tasted a lot of the chocolate and coconut, but it was definitely tempered by the cinnamon. The flavour combination made for a super smooth, comforting blend. Just what I needed the night before I head back to work!!
Having definitely broken down and acquired much of this tea, I can not say I am feeling in the least bit guilty! It has definitely become one of my absolute favourites, I loved to take it to work iced in my Timolino. The tea is sweet and fruity, but not too sweet. Even better, it can handle a long brewing time without anything awful happening. This is definitely one of my better tea aquisitions!!
Had a sample of this so I brewed it up strong and then drank it iced. It was okay, but really not great as far as I am concerned. The raspberry is there, but it is a really muddled fruit flavour. I am not a big rosehip or hibiscus fan to begin with, and they did not help sell me on this tea one bit. Overall, glad I gave it a shot and I will drink the bit i brewed iced, but this one won’t be finding a permanent home in my cupboard.
I am surprised by how much this tea is growing on me. I am starting to really love the simplicity of it! When I am looking for a sweet dessert tea, it is a simple, no-nonsense, robust caramel cup. I can leave the tea bag in almost indefinitely, it really is not a finicky tea at all. This is my current go-to choice when we are entertaining and I want a cup of tea but don’t have time to fiddle with more temperamental blends!
Enjoying this tea as my morning tea this weekend. The first steep was nice and heavy on the apple flavour but, now that I am on my second steep, the warmth of the nuts is beginning to dominate the flavour profile. This is one of my favourite teas to drink. It does not need any sweetener, the colour is delightful, and the leaves hold up nicely for multiple steeps!
