Watermelon Blackberry Honeybush

I was really hoping to get this in my grab bag, but it was a newer flavor so I didn’t really expect it. Imagine my excitement when I opened my package and found it in there! I decided to cold brew this, since I honestly can’t imagine watermelon tea hot. I mean… it’s watermelon, the official fruit of summer! It HAS to be cold.

And oh man, this is heaven in a cup. The watermelon and blackberry balance perfectly, and the honeybush is very unassuming. It adds some woodsy notes, but the fruit flavors are definitely front and center. This reminds me a bit of Cotton Candy for some reason, and I almost like it as much… which is really saying a lot! I think this is the first honeybush blend I’ve fallen in love with.

This is REALLY good. The watermelon and blackberry are well balanced, lots of sweet, juicy fruit goodness in this, with just a hint of the nutty tones from the honeybush. Yummy!

Made hot and poured over ice – I find the honeybush is a little too dominating, but I’m going to coldbrew and come back with the results! Every honeybush I have ever coldbrewed has won my heart, so I think this one will really thrive!

Until then, it’s a refreshing honeybush iced tea – very nutty and a hint smoky, with some of that great blackberry flavour (I love Frank’s blackberry flavouring, it really hits the spot) and a bit of watermelon in the aftertaste.

Can’t wait to coldbrew and hopefully coax a little more watermelon out :D

Edit: As my ice cubes water down the tea, it gets waaaay tastier and the honeybush is toned down! Now I see that I used way too much leaf, and to use a bit less next time for the perfect brew. (I used 2 heaping perfect tablespoons in my Steeper, which probably made it triple strength instead of just double haha)

Another sample from Amanda! And another 52teas offering checked off the list! Excellent :D

Strangely, this one smells and tastes fairly nondescript. Just like honeybush, flavoured with a vaguely familiar, 52teas-esque flavouring. I can see the likening that Alphakitty makes to Cotton Candy, as it’s a characteristic flavour present in that tea as well, however I really can’t taste melon or blackberry. That said, I’m still really enjoying this tea. Ok – after gulping down a few sips, I can almost imagine tasting some blackberry, but it’s very hard to pick out.

So it seems I am no longer so sad that I missed out on the last packet of this, since to me it’s nothing spectacular, just a good honeybush blend as usual.

Made hot, poured over ice.

I am trying to get used to honeybush or rooibos teas iced. There’s just something weird about them for me. This seemed like a good first thing to try.

I think I’m going to have to either let this cool fully or cold steep it, because the honeybush really dominated here. I got a little sweet watermelon, but no blackberry. I’ve been letting it sit a bit longer just to see if that helps it, since I had forgotten to turn my ice maker back on yesterday, and all I’m really getting still is more watermelon.

I have no fear that the blackberry is hiding in there somewhere, and I will find it! These are two of my favorite fruits and I’ve never though to combine them before so with a little work I think I will really enjoy this.

As for honeybush iced, since this is the first time I’ve tried a cold honeybush, I think I can stand it a lot more than rooibos (which is weird, because I love hot rooibos).

Got this as a sample in a swap but I can’t remember who sent it! :( (maybe I should cool down on the swaps for awhile, haha)

I made an iced tea out of this and took it out of the fridge this morning, poured it into my Contigo and off I went. I tried a couple sips on my way to work and was NOT impressed….

First I need to state that I have NO idea what honeybush tastes like. I’ve only ever had it mixed in with rooibos… I used to think they were two words for the same tea but apparently it’s its own thing. All I was getting from this tea was SOAP. I should also add that I steeped this longer on account of it being an iced tea. But I also used more water than I would a cup of regular tea. So, maybe i just oversteeped it and made it taste like soap. But that would be weird, right? Which tea turns into soap??

I thought maybe my travel cup had maintained some soapiness or something so when I got home after work I tried a bit more of the tea that had been left in the fridge… nope. It’s also soapy tasting to me.

I don’t HATE rooibos but I don’t love it either, there are a few blends that I adore though, but it’s the ones where the tea isn’t that obvious. I’m not sure what it is in this tea that tastes like soap, probably the flavoring. I assume I don’t HATE honeybush, as I’ve had it in blends with rooibos. But maybe the taste was just masked. I have no idea.

All I know is I poured this tea down the drain. Not for me! So glad to get to try it though :)

Edit So apparently the two teas do taste pretty much the same? According to the all knowing Google, anyway. Maybe the problem is that rooibos/honeybush is gross to me when it’s cold? I imagine that would bring out the flavor more and since I don’t LOVE it to start with… but I still haven’t read anything that says honeybush tastes like SOAP so I assume it’s the flavoring added to the tea that turned my stomach more so than the Honeybush. Ah well! On to the next!

I’ll write a review of this one hot and cold later, but for now I’m just logging. Still studying/writing papers for midterms. =(

This one was quite good. I enjoyed the watermelon/blackberry combo, and I even didn’t mind the honeybush! It was sweet, slightly tart, and refreshing. I’m going to try the last of it iced. Be back with more later.
Thanks, Alphakitty for swapping some of this yummy tea!

UPDATE: Here are the notes I was able to scratch down on this one during what I will refer to as “Midterm Hell Week”. This is pretty much a copy and paste.

Smells like- Blackberry and honeybush. Smells very sweet and slightly tart. Also picking up what smells like hubba bubba bubble gum (just as I did in the Cotton Candy Black). I wonder where that smell comes from?

Taste: Similar to the cotton candy (which I liked) in taste, except with definite blackberry aspects and subtle watermelon in the front of the sip. The honeybush is present, but doesn’t overpower the other flavors (I think I prefer honeybush to rooibos). Sweet, slightly tart, and very refreshing. I think this would be the bomb iced.

I have a bit more of this left, so I hope to expand on some of this later. I also want to try it iced, so we’ll see if that changes any of the flavors.

I REALLY wanted to like this. The other taster’s who tried it LOVE it. My husband LOVED it. However, to me I got a cough syrup like flavor at the end of the sip that I just could not get around. I am not rating this one because I am sure it is me! I am going to wait and give this tea another chance….

Backlog: This is a delicious combination, one I wouldn’t have thought to put together. Both the watermelon and blackberry are equally present.

Used 3 tsp. in 16 oz of boiling water and let it steep overnight. Iced and with a little sweetener its pretty awesome! Makes a great iced tea! I’m already planning on ordering more! :)