Blood Orange

Picked up a sample of this at Adagio the other week. I brewed it hot even though the instructions said to cold steep it. I’m wondering if I should have just followed the instructions on the bag instead. The dry leaf smelled promising in the bag – very blood orange and citrusy – but once steeped it developed a sour, potpourri-ish flavor that tasted like orange Kool Aid. Adding a little sugar helped but still couldn’t rescue it.

It’s not as revolting as some other Adagio herbal teas I’ve had, but pretty lousy nonetheless.

A nice orange burst of flavor. Normally I feel hibiscus overtakes anything it is put into but not here. It was a nice compliment to the orange.

I oversteeped this, so it was a bit bitter, but it reminds me of orange juice. I haven’t drunk any orange juice in a while, however. I think I would rather drink this than orange juice, though the flavor is a bit off, and not at all what I expect from something Blood Orange flavored. I will have to try this again later.

I love blood orange and this was not blood orange. The tea looks beautiful right out of the package and brewed up a beautiful color but that’s about the best I can say about this tea. The flavor is quite flat with a general citrus – orangey flavor. The rose hips add a bit and the hibiscus adds more to the visual appeal than the flavor. Would probably make a good iced tea mixed with straight black tea and probably a good tea to sip, with honey, when you have a cold. Doubt I’ll purchase this again.

Just visited Adagio for the first time two days ago. After the awesome staff informed me of the health benefits of hibiscus teas, I chose this tea with hibiscus and blood orange as one of my four teas. I didn’t sample it in the store first, which made me nervous – I heard hibiscus can come off as tart and sour and I wasn’t sure if adding citrus would push it over the edge. But it smelled so goooood!!!

So far, I’m happy with it – after steeping for about 8 min, I can really taste the blood orange and the hibiscus comes through also. The flavor is tart, but not excessively so, and I added a bit of sugar (I add sugar to about 90% of the teas that I drink) Also, it’s a beautiful scarlet color.

Catching up on some notes.

I admit that when I requested this sample with my last Adagio order I was NOT expecting an herbal blend. It seems to me that alot of companies do their variation on Blood Orange on a black base, so this caught me by surprise.

The result is characteristic of that blood orange flavor, and had I added sweetener I’m sure that resemblance would increase. Straight, this was fairly tart to the taste, but not overwhelmingly so.

It’s not a bad tea, in fact, I like it.

But blood orange? No, I don’t think so. There’s a little bit of tartness and some acidic citrus flavor that reminds me of an actual orange, but not a blood orange.

When it’s hot, there is this ever present hibiscus flavor that kind of balances all of the flavors of the tea. It kind of reminds me of one of the Celestial Seasonings Zinger line of teas. If they made an orange zinger, I bet this is what it would taste like.

The hibiscus and the tartness are both muted a bit when cold brewed into iced tea overnight. The color of the iced tea is this wonderful color that wanders somewhere between orange, purple and yellow, without actually being one of them.

Are there better orange tisanes? Sure. Are there better representations of a blood orange one? Most certainly. But I’m in no way sad I have this in my cabinet, especially due to the price. It was a pretty good bargain.

Overpowering citrus flavor, actually made my throat feel more sore. Not for me, and not exactly “tea”

This was one of the first loose leaf teas I really drank in great quantities. Now, one of my all time favorite teas. Tasty cold or hot, good for a vitamin C boost, and drinkable at any time of day since it’s caffeine free. I bought the biggest bag of it and am quickly devouring this bright, colorful, flavorful tea. It’s a strong element in blends, and can be a bit sour or overpowering if brewed long, but I prefer a heavy flavor. If nothing else, it is a glorious red-pink color when brewed. Probably my favorite orange tea of all time, and a really delicious, juicy herbal.

Samples Only TTB
This smells exactly like Orange Gatorade Drink Mix. My mom bought a big tub of it when we all caught a stomach bug when I was younger, and it lasted so long that the florida humidity crept in and turned the whole thing clumpy. I didn’t like it as a drink, but I used to either sprinkle it on my cut apples, or make a thick paste out of it first, and then spread it on apples.
This doesn’t taste like orange Gatorade mix (thankfully), but I wouldn’t exactly say it tastes like blood oranges, or oranges in general. Its quite tart, even iced and sweetened, and citrusy, but more of a nondescript citrus not necessarily orange. All that aside, I quite like it, its a good kind of sour, something I can see myself reaching for.