Jessie

Yeah, they did the same thing to me when we were getting ours, high ups must be telling them to do so. I was only getting 10 g of each, so there was really no point to wasting money on the big box!

Hibiscus is way overpowering. Using it with black tea does not sound too enticing ( though there is this blend called eros I want to try one day).

I don’t understand why so many tea companies put hibiscus in everything, it seems a lot of people don’t like it…

It’s definitely an odd choice. I don’t know why tea companies are so heavy-handed with it, either. I think in smaller amounts it could be alright.

Hibiscus is strong stuff, and something I think not nearly everybody can identify. People can dislike it but not identify it, and it is true that hibiscus gives a lot of body and color to tisanes. I blame celestial seasonings actually for the hibiscus trend, a lot of their “zinger” blends seem to have been ahead of the trend and maybe causing it. A ton of caffeine-free “teas” or “fruit” teas nearly always got hibiscus and they do seem to sell. I hate it and hoping the trend passes. But maybe it is like one of those fresh coriander things – some people seriously hate it and can not figure out why some of us love it.

I got one or two unabashed hibiscus blends where the hibiscus works (a red fruit thing, a spicy apple thing) but those are not subtle. I have only once picked up a hibiscus blend done subtly and where it did not overpower everthing else, and it was btw Yumchaa´s Adventure blend (but then again, I think whoever does their blends is a genius at balancing tastes)

I didn’t find them particularly pushy where I am, but I only picked up the one tea. I sampled two of the summer blends but I didn’t find most of them particularly enticing. I do find that a lot of teas now have hibiscus and I think its an acquired taste, I personally like it in this blend but it wouldn’t be a tea I would have every day. Its definitely one I want to keep in my cupboard though. To each their own though!

Oh my, yes, the push to get us to buy the whole box must come from higher up. I was the only customer in the store with two employees there, and I asked for 15g (so 16g) of each tea, and they tried to sell me on the pre-packaged stuff, but I’ve previously calculated and it’s significantly cheaper to just buy each one individually. It’s not like you even get some nice little tins for the extra price. They kept trying to convince me though, and I was all ‘geez, you’d be done weighing it all out now if you just gave me the tea like I asked….’ (Even if I had wanted 26g of each I wouldn’t have bought the box…)

Gosh, at that point even I, who is somewhat conflict shy, would start wondering if I should ask them if they wanted to sell me the things I was asking for or if I should just find somewhere else to shop…