Raspberry Patch

Light and sweet. First you get the sweetness of the apple and a hint of the raspberry. Then as the pink liquor travels back on your tongue you get more of the sour/bitter flavors of the cranberry and the hibiscus. This seems like a tea I would really like, except I can’t quite seem to get the preparation down. My first cup was too light, not enough flavor, so maybe I needed to add more tea and steep for longer. The second cup (that I had left steeping) had a much more powerful flavor but a little on the bitter side. It would probably help if I had a proper kettle so I knew what temp my water is.

Tea #22 from the ‘Here’s Hoping’ teabox

Backlogging.

Have you ever watched one of those videos where an adult gives a baby a taste of lemon, and the baby’s face contorts at the unexpected tartness? I’m sure that’s how my face looked when I first sipped this tea. Even after adding sugar the tartness was overwhelming. Me thinks this is not the tea for me.

Thanks darby for this tea! Oh wow! This tea is so tarty and I love it! Raspberry tart – almost like sour candy. I really don’t find the tart to be a negative aspect at all, but then again I love sour candy! With a little pinch of sugar, it’s still super tart but the other fruit flavors comes through and the whole cup blends together very nicely. This is not at all what I was expecting from this tea – I love the surprising characteristics here. And it’s a beautiful dark pink color too which I adore.

I’m wishing I had some of those shockers candies I used to love when I was younger to go with this tea. It’s been so long since I thought about them…I think I’ll go and get some tomorrow =)

Pretty sure this is the last fruit mix in my herbal sampler. I think the only sample left after this is lemongrass. It’s pretty much indistinguishable from the other mixes in what it looks like dry, but it does have a rather distinctive sweet, berry smell to the dry mix.

It steeps to the dark magenta I associate with hibiscus. It’s aroma is not strong, and not very distinctive. Apple may be the main component, with some hibiscus earthiness.

It’s tart, but not too tart and it has a countervailing sweetness that must be from the apples and berries. My main complaint with it is that I expected a stronger raspberry flavor given the name.

There is a little raspberry, most noticeable in the aftertaste, but it isn’t nearly as strong as I’d want in a mix that has raspberry in the name. Though this has a pleasant taste, it’s not very distinctive, and I wouldn’t say it’s better than the first two fruit mixes in the sampler. It also doesn’t surpass the Blood Orange, which I found disappointing for essentially the same reason — not enough orange. This has an even bigger not enough raspberry problem, so I can’t rate it as high as the Blood Orange.

Thanks Mitch!

Wow, the scent of this one is so strong. Incredibly strong. And it’s such a deep red colour.

Update May 1/13: So I fell asleep on the couch last night with this next to me. My lovely fiance thought to put it in the fridge rather than pour it out so now I’m enjoying it cold.

This tea is really tart but I’m enjoying that. It’s so tart it’s borderline candy raspberry-ish. Or not quite ripe raspberry-ish perhaps. To be quite honest it tastes more like a juice chilled than a tea.

I did a resteep of the leaves to see if I enjoy it hot.

Okay the resteep was alright. It lost quite a bit of the flavour unfortunately. I drank half my resteep hot and put the rest in the fridge for after work.

Woot! My teas came today and this was part of the Orchard Sampler. This tastes like juice! I think there may be hibiscus in it because it is a bit tart. There are lots of fruit flavors in this with some sweetness. I really loved this and it would be a great staple in my cupboard because I just adore straight up fruity blends. It was also one of the least artificial smelling of the bunch. Two of the others got me a bit worried, but I’m still excited to try them out!

Thanks Darby for the trade! I like this! I’m not entirely sure it is very raspberry. I didn’t see too much raspberry in the blend. But I like the apples and the cranberries together. The steep color is a rosey pink. The smell is very sweet. The flavor is both sweet and tart. Since the hibiscus here seems to be pretty big (since it is flower petals), you could almost take out the hibiscus before steeping to make it less tart. I wanted a nice apple tea and this one is good. I must keep in mind that Adagio’s apple should be used in blends!

Thanks Starberry for the sample!

MMMMMMM! This is what I was hoping to get when I tried the Trader Joe’s Pomegranate tea. Something light, with a bit of fruit flavor to it. I brought this to work with me wanting something different than what I currently have. It’s PERFECT for what I’m looking for in a work tea!

I didn’t get much smell out it after steeping. The initial sip gives you a hint of the raspberry and cranberry, with the hibiscus coming through more in the after taste. I’m not getting any bitterness like some people are describing, or tartness either for that matter. I did use one bag for my 16oz travel mug however,which is probably making this a lot lighter.

I need to pick some of this up!!

FANTASTICO! Finally got a chance to try this tonight! It’s lighter than some bagged raspberry teas I’ve experienced in the past, and I really love it that way. Fruity, sweet and tangy, probably the best raspberry tea I’ve tasted. Delishhh. Gonna make another cup RIGHT NOW.

UPDATE: IT APPARENTLY DOESN’T RE-STEEP WELL. :’( JUST FYI.

This herbal fruity tisane is delicious. I wasn’t feeling well after drinking some Yunnan Noir from Adagio in the a.m. without food (caffeine on an empty stomach? Eek!) so I made some raspberry patch and threw it in my Teas Etc. travel mug – wonderful! I felt better, I enjoyed this delicious fruity drink and it will probably be a staple in my cupboard. Even better when made iced!!

Yum! This is strong (well, just right) if you brew it for 7 minutes, so if you want a lighter taste I would go for 5 minutes. It is tart, and I couldn’t detect any sweetness (although it was quite hot at the time so that could have affected my ability to taste it). I added a packet of Splenda and it was like kool aid for grown ups! I think it’s much better cooled, and will try it sans sweetener and chilled next time.

This was a little more tart than I was expecting and I attribute a lot of that to the hibiscus. You can really taste the hibiscus in this and just a hint of raspberry. I was a little let down by the lack of raspberry flavor, since it is in the name I expected more, but overall this wasn’t bad at all. This was good hot, but even better iced with a hint of sugar to bring out the fruit flavors. I think this will make a nice refreshing summer time drink, but I don’t think I could drink this one every day.

I didn’t even bother with a resteep since my initial steep was 10 minutes. I also used 1 heaping tablespoon per 16oz rather than the suggested 2 teaspoons. I find that with many Adagio teas, especially the fruit blends, I need just a bit more loose tea and a longer steep time to get the flavor that I want.

ALWAYS good. Sweet and tart without being too much of either.

Love this stuff. Made a pot and relaxed after a long week.

Love it! The flavor is amazing. Very vivid and sweet. It’s almost perfect without sweeteners, and the little dried berry bits are pretty tasty by themselves. It has absolutely no bitterness and a hint of apple flavor. It’s like brewing tea out of trail mix!