Paradise Found

I had this one today in-store as a sample. And then I bought some just because I had a brief burst of the old familiar feeling where I have to try all the new teas. So I got some of each of the four new teas. And drank this one first. And yep, hibiscus!

What is with the employees always trying to sell me on the box of the seasonal collections? The girl in the store practically cut me off when I asked for 20 g of each of the spring teas minus Pink Flamingo, pointed to the shelf, and said that the box had them all. I clarified that I didn’t want Pink Flamingo and added that it is $8 cheaper to buy them individually anyway, and she didn’t seem to believe me! I don’t find that they are very aggressive sales-wise so it always takes me by surprise when they try to insist. Anyway.

This is way too sour. It would probably be good otherwise; I like the fruit flavours I get a glimpse of under there. But, even at 3 minutes, this is way too tart. And alarmingly red! I don’t know if I’ve really had a black blend with hibiscus before, but it’s really odd. The tea is completely overridden by the hibiscus. Would probably be better cold.

This afternoon has been about tidying up my apartment, which is why I’m drinking so much tea. And yes, I did get some cleaning done in between all the notes on Steepster. :)

This ancient sample comes from Mercuryhime – thank you!

This tea has the dreaded hibiscus in it, so I wasn’t going in expecting too much. It does smell very nice when you open up the sample pack, however.

I’m drinking this out of a glass mug and it’s a beautiful red color! The flavor is bit like fruit punch but thankfully isn’t too tart (I bet the sugared mango helps with this). Interesting that so many people did not like this one, it isn’t the worst hibiscus tea I have had by far but I don’t know if I will CRAVE this, ever. It would probably be really good as an iced tea.

Thanks for the sample, MH!

Oh, hey there, hibiscus, didn’t see you hiding there.

I really only got this because David’s had the 50g free with any purchase promotion last week. I have to say – shipping to MA is about three days faster than shipping to NY, which is cool. And of course David’s emails me today with a Perfect Mug promotion… I’ve been wanting to get one of those for months… and but I have textbooks et al to buy now. Not cool, David’s, not cool.

Opening the bag, this smells fantastic. I’m reminded of Teavana’s Youthberry / Wild Orange blend, but better. It’s a bit fuller, like it has something that the Teavana blend is lacking. Maybe it’s tea itself, having a more substantial black/green base as opposed to their barely-there white? I don’t know.

The color is beautiful. It’ a rich ruby red. I haven’t drank fruity tea in so long, it’s been awhile since I’ve had any tea that’s not a variant of brown or green!

But, oh, the hibiscus. It’s all I taste. And I like hibiscus. In moderation.

I’m leaving off a rating because I had a few sips of this hot, fell asleep, and I’m not liking it after it’s cooled down, but man, I’m just not feeling this.

With all my hibiscus hate… I am actually CRAVING it.
What is up with that?!

My last 3 iced teas from DT had hibiscus, and they were so tart and flavourful and sweet and quenching. I made an iced tea of something hibscusless at home and it fell flat! I wanted some tart! I’m just craving it is all.

And guess what? I have ZERO teas with hibiscus in them. Zero. Sigh, so to go teas it is.

This isn’t my favorite iced tea, but it’s pretty tasty. I would never drink this hot, that’s for sure. I’m getting some mango and other fruity flavours, and a bit of flowery taste, but the hibiscus quickly takes over. Which is kind of what I want right now. Go figure!

Not a big hibiscus fan and this is heavy on the H. I cut the tart zing with sugar and that helped some. I love the way this smells, both dry and brewed – like a tropical paradise. It’s a decent tea, not my fave from David’s Tea, but not the worst thing I’ve ever consumed.

I got about 10 grams of this in a swap, thanks for that! I recall trying it hot and cold before and liking it much more cold.

I iced it today and had to add sugar to drink it. With the addition of sugar, it tastes good. But there’s nothing really special about it that makes it stand out from all the other fruity hibiscus-y teas. It actually reminds me a lot of the Passion Iced Tea Lemonade from Starbucks that I used to be obsessed with. I’d definitely drink this if it was offered, but I’m not going to buy it.

I had enough of the sample left to try it cold brewed. I’m hoping that will bring out more of the non-hibiscus flavors

I had such high hopes for this tea. The only tea out of the collection that was black. When I steeped it, I always add milk to the cup first and OMG it was purple. It was gross with milk, and it was nasty without. Not for me. Smelled divine before brewed and totally tart afterwards.

This one would be glorious if the hibiscus weren’t as tart. Sigh. It’s fruity and juicy, but then the hibiscus steps in and crashed the tasty party with its tartness. It’s good, and if you’re a fan of hibiscus, this tea is definitely one I would recommend, but it is not the tea for me. It’s sad because I keep taking sips, loving how good the tea is until the hibiscus takes over, but then it’s so tart it turns my stomach. Sadness.

Not rating because I went into it knowing that I wouldn’t like the hibiscus.

This was Given to me by keenteathyme this has such a fruity smell .. but the taste seams a little off… its got a tart taste mixed in with the fruit .. I added sweetener and a little honey since i had a Cold …. this is one tea i just done really want to finish… :( Disappointment in paradise …

Dry Leaf Nose: Fruity and sweet.

Liquor: Pink-golden colour and clear, with a sweet tropical mango aroma.

Flavour: Sweet and fruity flavour with tart hibiscus taking the forefront and the black and green teas adding a nice lively mouthfeel. The mango adds an extra sweetness to the cup

Thank you Vanilla Beans for sending me this awesome sample as well :)

This one smells interesting. Not necessarily good or bad. Just interesting. It also brews up a deep red colour, which has never been a great sign for me. Thus far I don’t think anything that’s brewed up this colour I’ve kept or even enjoyed.

Well it isn’t Pineapple Oolong or Aloha Pu’erh bad, but not my favourite. Must be the hibiscus.

Thanks again Vanilla Beans!

So I got this as part of the spring collection and I had an iced cup some time in late March, when it was still quite warm here in south eastern Australia. But the experience was so traumatic its taken me this long to log it.

So I got home one day, filled the steeper with water and tea, grabbed a glass with ice and took it all into the lounge. Unfortunately I placed the steeper half on, half off a coaster, and didn’t notice until too late that all my lovely tea had spilled out of the bottom of the steeper, down onto the coffee table, through the shelf and drawers, and had started to dribble onto the carpet. Major brewing fail. I madly rushed to the kitchen to find paper towel, a cloth and grab the re-boiled kettle and steeper tray to re-do the tea. (why waste the third of the steeper full of tea that was left??).

So a few minutes later when the steeper contents was nicely pink, I poured it over my ice. Finally! Fruity, tasty and a hint of tart (hibiscus I presumed, and i don’t mind it unlike other reviewers). A nice iced tea, pity about the trouble getting it.

first ingredient – hibiscus.
i was a tea newb and this was a sample.
here is a song about squirrels. kinda.
kinda about squirrels.

“Albini himself commented that this song is about a guy who wants to isolate himself from the world, so he tries to generate electrical power using squirrels. However, his efforts backfire and his life is overcome by these thousands of squirrels and they become the main purpose of his existence, totally defeating the purpose in the end.”

Shellac – Squirrel Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSNDrYwptzo

Mmmmm this tastes just like a normal tea should. I get that hibiscus a lot and i do enjoy it. The mango is more of an after taste. To me this tastes more like a tea you would get in the grocery store, not loose leaf. Its really good but nothing memorable. I think this tea would be more appreciated by someone who is not so passionate about tea, if you know what I mean. It is pretty good but something I would serve to guests. Not bad with a little agave nectar.
update
I think I am going to have to bump up the rating a bit. I have a little sample pack of this from my online order and I decided I would put it in my Timolino travel mug today. Wow this tea smells so fruity, it really brightened up my day. Everyday I bring a different tea from my collection to school and my friends always ask to smell it. This one by far is the best smelling according to my friends.

As I suspected, the hibiscus took over the taste and became too bitter for me.
I am glad that I only got 10grams.
The dude at DTs suggested to ice it so I will do that before I say buh-bye to this tea.
Sorry, I didn’t find paradise in this one David. :(

I finally got the spring collection teas! I’ve been seeing bad reviews popping up all over steepster, but to be honest this just made me all the more excited, since I tend to love the blends that others hate, and vice versa.
I noticed lots of people complaining about the hibiscus in this one, but hibiscus has never bothered me. Scanning the ingredients for the spring teas, the most worrying one for me was the beetroot in Pink Flamingo (I’ve never tried PF before).
All the spring teas smelled so amazing and fruity and spring-y! Even walking into the store I could smell the spring in the air. After the heavier black teas of fall and winter this is so refreshing.
So, on to this tea. The hibiscus is definitely in the foreground and it reminds me of Kanpe. It’s actually very very close… but fruitier than Kanpe and more sweet, I think. The more I drink it the more I like it. But I can see how if you don’t like hibiscus you could really not like this tea. Of course besides the taste, the big problem with hibiscus is that it’s so overwhelming. I wish it blended a bit more smoothly.
I’m trying to find the black and green teas in here, but I can’t really identify them anywhere. I have a rookie palate though.
But I like this tea. And yes… it makes me excited for spring :)

Definitely not a fan of this one, there was way too much hibiscus for me. It looked like fruit punch in my mug and tasted like hibiscus with a hint of fruit. Sorry David, but I’m passing on this one.

Fruitacular!

So this was one of the tea’s I treated myself to for Christmas this year, and is also another one scratched off my list of online only tea’s for me. I made a pot of this first thing Christmas morning and practically everyone who tried it liked it with the exception of my sister who has never been big on anything related to fruit!

I don’t know if people brewing this one by the cup are having issues with the hibiscus or they just plain hate it but I haven’t noticed it to be overpowering in this blend at all. Dry it smells like candied mango to me and a bunch of other fruits but the mango stands out the most. The final brew is a dark red color and has a fruity and floral aroma to it that does in fact smell like paradise, but you wont be getting lost in it!

I don’t think I would want to drink this hot, but iced? Very sour and refreshing. You read that right.
All you hisbiscus haters out there obviously have to steer clear. It is indeed very playful and fruity, tropical-but-not, with just a dash of flowery goodness that wasn’t really needed to begin with. But then the hisbiscus takes things to a boil. Goes without saying.

Seeing this tea for the Spring collection got me pumped, I love mixes of green and black tea!

Dry: the leaves smell fruity with a hint of tart. I can maybe detect the orange. The appearance is quite nice with the black, orange peel hunks, green, flecks of blue and pieces of candied mango.

Steeped: Paradise Found steeps into a deep red. And the longer you steep, the redder it goes (hibiscus). Smells tart and fruity still.

Taste: I bought this tea before work and immediately steeped some in a glass when I got to work – as my meeting went on, the tea got more tart and red. But that steeping was very good – fruity, slightly sweet, and not too tart (until it sat in my glass for 30 minutes, then it got really tart). It was like drinking unsweetened natural fruit punch.
This steeping (for this review) was for 5 minutes. I can taste the orange, sweetness of the mango and I think I can detect the black and green tea, adding some earthy yum. Of course, there is tart at the end. This round doesn’t taste as super fruity as my work cup, but I’m not sure if that was a better scoop or longer steeping, leaning on the latter though.
For tart comparison, less tart as DavidsTea’s “Kanpe” by far. Kanpe is stronger with also more tropical with banana, coconut. Then yeah, Kanpe has no caffeine. Paradise Found has a rounding of flavours that compliment each other – with the presence of black and green tea that mixes lovely together.

Oddly, as per what DavidsTea says:
“Liquor: Pink-golden colour and clear, with a sweet tropical mango aroma.”
They must be getting much less hibiscus for their steeping to not go crazy red. I dunno.

So, if you like: a little tart and fruity teas, you should give Paradise Found a shot. If you don’t drink or not into black tea, I wouldn’t let it scare you off trying this tea as it’s very light and not a strong black tea taste at all.

What I like about this tea is the fruity and the mix of teas. I like black tea blends and this one is much lighter and fruity compared to other blends I’ve tried. I wanna play with steeping times, which I think really changed the flavour between the 2 cups I’ve now had. Then of course, this would be amazing iced. I’m not scoring it higher though as though I’m happy it’s not Kanpe horrible-tart, but it’s pushing my acceptable tart levels.