Strawberry Orange Scone

It took me forever to get around to trying this sample. It was kindly sent to me by generous Angrboda. Thanks so much! 

Today I had a long and exhausting day of work. We are opening a new retail store For our company, and dealing with all of the publicity and making sure everything is in order is wearing me out. I am both very nervous and excited about it. It is the first store that is opened by mostly my efforts and responsibilities so I want it to go really well. To calm my nerves and be able to enjoy what is left of the night before I go to bed, I made myself a nice big cup of this!  

The scent is very orange charged. I didn’t find any strawberry or scone in the dry tea scent, still it was very pleasant. The scent reminded me a lot of some fruity orange Tic-Tacs that we have in Ecuador. 

Once brewed, the liquor was a dark burgundy color and gave of a sweet orange scent that smelled like orange cake fresh out of the oven. Unsweetened it was smooth and orangey with just a bite of astringency. Sweetened it tasted like orange cake, with enough orange flavor, but non of the tartness. I never really got the strawberry, but the baked good part of it was somewhere in the background.

Overall it was very enjoyable. It reminded me a lot of 52teas rainbow sherbet tea, which I love, so this is a good thing! Too bad I only have a sample (though it is quite generous) of this! I will miss it when it is gone!

Hey look, I’m first!

This one was half of an order and the one out of the two that I was least interested in. Mostly, it was just the blend of the week that day and I threw it in because why not? Now that I’ve got them, though, I was more curious about this one than the other one. Especially since nobody else has written about it yet, so I don’t know what to expect. (Don’t say ‘strawberry orange scone’. I may have my occasional blonde moments, but I had gathered that much.)

Anyway, the reason I decided that I might as well give this a go as well is the fact that it seems to be largely fruity. With 52teas, the fruity blends are the ones I’ve generally had the most luck with, and the strawberry and orange combination appealed to me. The scone here is less relevant. If it tastes like one, great. If not, no big deal.

The aroma of the dry leaves definitely has orange in it. It’s very pungent, almost nose-stabbingly sharp. It’s mostly orange and then I found a bit of strawberry underneath, but not much of it managed to get through the wall of orange.

After steeping it’s a far more even mix of strawberry and orange, although still mostly orange, but now I almost definitely get something that reminds me of baked goods. How extraordinary!

The flavour is again largely orange, but somehow more peel than actual fruit. That’s a shame, because I find that orange peel is often slightly bitter, and I’m getting that sort of bitterness here. It may, however, also be ever so slightly overdone on the steeping compared to my normal steeping length, so I can’t be certain it’s not a combination of the two.

I can also definitely find the strawberry and I’m rather reminded of that lovely green blend I had over the summer which was also flavoured with strawberry and orange (hence the combination’s appeal), although somewhat more mildly than in this one.

I can’t claim that I can really find the scones in this. Knowing that it’s supposed to be there, I can sort of convince myself that I can find something that reminds me of it, but had I been on my own, I don’t think I would have been able to pick it out. Like with the orange peel problem, however, this may also have something to do with the way this particular cup turned out.

I’m probably not finding it in exactly the same way that Frank had wished for his customers, but nevertheless I think I’m still going to enjoy it. I’m definitely glad I gave it a try.

YUM!

I definitely had my doubts about this tea. If I were to visit a bakery and see a strawberry orange scone I probably would pass on it in favor of a lemon scone or something else. The combination of strawberry and orange simply does not appeal to me. I don’t know why.

But it didn’t take long for me to change my mind about the flavor combination because it really tastes amazing. The orange dominates this cup and it tastes sweet yet tangy, and even a little bitter. Normally, I don’t really like that bitter orange pith taste, but, somehow, in this cup, it works. The strawberry is more of an undertone compared to the strength of the orange, but it is nice and sweet, and it is really noticeable in the aftertaste, with that little bit of berry tingle that tickles the tongue.

The pastry flavor of the scone is there too. I do wish there was more of that buttery element to this – Frank manages to do butter flavors so well! I find that this misses butter, or perhaps clotted cream, so I think that this tea is even better with a splash of milk to it to tie it all together and finish the scone flavor for me.

It’s really, really delicious.

Quickly, a note before I dash home!

Mostly smells and tastes like orange peel. I am not really getting any strawberry, or scone. A bit of astringency; clearly I oversteeped (thought so). I’ll re-evaluate when it cools, but I don’t think I’m terribly fond of this one.

Thank you LiberTEAS for this sample :)

ETA: Second steep this morning is funky. Into the garbage it goes.

So much for not buying more tea. Didn’t I just explain how much tea I have? How do you do it to me, Frank?! I just can’t say no!!

I’m sooo excited to try this blend! I don’t know what happened, but one day it magically reappeared on 52teas’ in stock page. It had sold out in less than 24 hours! I was sure I’d never get to try it. But then 2 pouches showed up, and I snagged the last one!! Yipee!

I’ve been exhausted all day, so I can justify drinking black tea at 7pm tonight. I’ve already had a total of four shots of espresso and one grande coffee. What’s a little more caffeine?

The dry tea smells heavenly! The perfect mix of strawberry and orange. The brewed tea has a very similar aroma but more citrus-y. Others described this tea as largely orange, but I’m hoping the strawberry will be equally present. First sip without additions…mmm, it is a good mix of strawberry and orange. But I prefer black teas with milk and sugar.

Second sip with additions…wow! This is really delicious! It’s not very scone-y. And it’s a fairly light black tea as black teas go, but that’s a pro in my book. This is full of flavor and reminds me of liquid Starburst, if such a thing existed. Yum yum!! I’ve discovered a new favorite!

When 52teas posted that a few more bags of this had been found, I jumped on it (along with the Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha, which I will be tasting soon). It did not have the highest of ratings, but it sounded like something I really wanted to try.
The smell coming out of the bag is a little funky, and I began to get nervous. I don’t really know how to describe it, it was just weird.
I brewed it up and took a sip. Oranges, underlying sweetness. Yum. Enjoying this one with no sugar or milk (which is usually how I take my teas). I have a feeling it will be even better with sugar, but I am sitting in my Lovesac with three chihuahuas on me, so getting up is not the easiest thing.