Paradise Passions

So last night, I decided to go through a bunch of the teas I had and pick out a select few that I either hadn’t yet tried, or hadn’t tried properly, etc. etc. Ended up with a huge pile (probably 50+ teas), and my plan is to drink through them (not finishing them, just trying them all) until I’m done, without going for other teas! Of course, I’ll probably let myself slip up a bit, but hopefully I can get through these ones fairly quickly. Some are teas that I owe reviews for (e.g. from Teavivre); some are old things I need to use up, and others I just haven’t tried. It’s not an exhaustive pile by a long shot, and I didn’t go through too many sample boxes (just ones from Azzrian, and Mercuryhime) so there are plenty of samples baggies yet to go through…. eek.

Anyways, starting with a couple from Caraway Teas. Apparently nobody else had tried this one, as I had to add it myself; I was surprised, as it actually sounds rather good. A black tea, with pineapple and papaya. I find it interesting that instead of large chunks of fruit as other companies do, the fruit here is nearly indistinguishable from the tea, being in small brown pellety form. At least I hope it’s fruit (haha). Anyhow, it’s not likely freeze-dried fruit, more likely dried in a different manner. I’m brewing this at work, so not optimal conditions, but oh well – blacks at least don’t have stringent temperature requirements!

The aroma is of a strong black tea. Little, if any, fruitiness is apparent, although the aroma is not unpleasant. A few sips in, and it’s clear that this is too strong for my liking. It’s rather bitter and somewhat astringent, which leads me to believe that a 2:30 infusion would have been better, and perhaps adding a bit less tea may also have been beneficial (my work teaspoon is currently indisposed… I eyeballed). Unfortunately, I’m really not tasting anything fruity here. I think there are perhaps hints, and maybe if I compared an unflavoured version of this black tea base to this cup, I would notice a difference, but I’m just not picking it up. There is a bit of sweetness though, so this tea is palatable to drink straight (well, it would be better if not oversteeped), it’s just nothing special at all. I feel like I could put some milk and sugar in here and serve it in a restaurant as “tea” and nobody would be the wiser.