Superberry (organic)

I am so used to eating the plump berries out of my Blueberry jam tea post-steep, that I popped one of these berries in my mouth!

It was a juniper berry.

So I quickly drank the tea to get the piney-tasting bits out of my mouth. Beware the juniper berry!

Other than that – it’s a berry tea! Not my favourite but makes a nice summer iced tea, or creamy berry latte.

This tea I also got when I was in NYC. Back logging everything, as I said before, is going to take a long while… But anyways… I was done buying tea for the trip, or so I thought, until I sniffed at this one. It smelled so spectacularly fruity that I really couldn’t resist. It also was pretty and full of tasty fresh-looking berries. Ok… 2 more ounces isn’t going to do anymore damage to my pocket than was already done.

So the dark tea leaves and the red berries (much redder than they seem in the picture) made for a beautiful tea. The scent was all berry, it reminded my of the blue raspberry jolly rancher flavor in sent. I wasn’t entirely sure that it was going to work with the black tea base.

Once brewed, the burgundy tea smelled a tiny bit like tea and a whole lot like raspberry jello. Not bad, just not something that I would chose on a normal day. Unsweetened it was slightly sweet and very confusing. Very much needed to be sweet to work for me. Sweet it was a happy treat. (Completely unintended rhyme…) The only berry flavor that I love I tea seems to be blueberry, so this is going to drunk up quickly and probably never replaced.

If you are looking for a sweet and fruity berry tea with a super intense flavor, this is what you are looking for. :) Sadly, this isn’t what I am looking for, but happy to give it a try!

Also, since I promised… Here is the link to the video of the last ice skating show! Not me at my best, but it was fun to skate again for the first time in years! http://youtu.be/HV6oUTeduFA

Thanks to courtney for letting me know that this was on steepster but as one word. Only reason i’m logging this….GROSS!

Seriously, this is really not up my alley. I think this is maybe 1 or 2 teas that i’ve ever taken a sip of and simply spat it back into the tea cup. If i could rate it as a negative number i would.

ick. I’m sure there are reason, and maybe this would be better cold but never again. no way, no how. gaaaaaah yuck!

Ok, this one’s not really one of the teas on my list to drink down, but it is a new sample I bought to try, and I thought a comparison of it against Ever Green could be worthwhile, since they both contain berries…. yeah, I’m trying too hard to justify it, aren’t I?

Anyways, I made this one and now I’m going to drink it. Strangely, the dry tea smells like an alcoholic berry. Like a berry that just got home from the bar and really needs to sleep it off. But seriously, I’m getting a weird smell along with the blueberries; perhaps it’s the juniper?? I don’t like juniper, and it unsurprisingly reminds me of gin, which I also dislike, so maybe that’s what I’m smelling? (Awww… gin reminds me of some of my hometown friends, one of which I will be seeing in a couple weeks, the other of which I may see then as well, unless he has already moved to Europe for his studies… sad times.)

The aroma is much more like blueberries (and pomegranate??) and therefore moreso like DT’s Blueberry Jam once steeped, so perhaps it’s even a flavouring oil/alcohol sort of thing I’m smelling in the dry tea. Although it appears that I have also oversteeped this cup a touch (bah, seriously, I cannot get DT’s blacks steeped correctly! Three minutes is too short for many, then I try four for some and they’re still too weak, then I try four for others and it’s already too long. Sheesh), it reminds me a great deal of berry juice. Maybe a pomegranate-blueberry blend. Something pseudo-healthy. There is acai powder in here, so it’s possible I’m confusing pomegranate and acai, since I don’t actually have a clear idea of the flavour of the latter since I’ve only had it in juice blends before. So actually, aside from the astringency, this reminds me a great deal of juice. Unfortunately, I’m not a huge fan of such juices for whatever reason, so this tea is only ok for me.

Second infusion (can’t recall parameters) was also astringent, and got dumped because my stomach can’t deal with that tonight.

Backlogging from Wednesday

I made this the suggested DT’s iced method.

As much as I really enjoy berry teas, this one seemed a little bit off to me. I think the acai berry powder maybe gave it a funny taste, kinda like I could taste the powder…..or maybe it was in my head….I don’t know, I am probably just crazy!

Anyway, there was something about this tea that was a bit off for me. I did like the juniper berry taste though.

Caffeine! Yay!

This is one of those difficult flavored blacks from DavidsTea. It’s hard to get it right, it’s either too weak or it seems to immediately become bitter. I figure the water I used was around ~200 degrees, knowing from the steep time I should probably not use boiling. And still, it seems to have gotten bitter from 3 1/2 minutes at that.

Beyond that, it has a blueberry-açaí flavor to it. I really don’t get the açaí hype because blueberries are pretty high up there in antioxidants too, and you know, far cheaper given they don’t just grow in Brazil. Plus they’re far more likely to actually contain all those touted antioxidants because they don’t get processed to death, like in this tea alone where they are just a powder. Still the flavor is okay, but I’d take Blueberry Jam over this one.

Thanks Kittenna!

I can’t remember who traded this to me, but you know who you are and thank you very much! I’m assuming the little tiny berries in here are juniper berries? I’ve never had any, but hopefully they’re not too tart.

I made this iced, and I don’t think I made it quite strong enough. It was a bit watery. I went to put in just a bit of sugar to being out the taste more and a giant pile of sugar accidentally fell in :( Despite all that, the tea managed to taste pretty good. Nice and fruity without any tartness. I didn’t really taste any of the black tea itself though. I’m thinking it might be easier to taste that when this is hot.

This was part of my order that arrived yesterday. I steeped this to have with breakfast, but was running late so I both ran out of time to drink it and make sure I was steeping it properly. I put it in mydouble walled aladdin plastic tumbler, but the chilly apparent 1oC outside cooled it right down by the time I got to work to room temperature.

First thoughts: smelled berry like, but I think it was the acaici that gives it a bit of tartness. Hot, I think I’d oversteeped it because my one mouthful tasted a bit bitter. Cold, the bitterness is gone and there’s a soft berry taste.

Going to give this a proper go later, and an icing and see what happens.

This one smells like so much berries! Yum. I generally only like berries as they should be eaten. Off the bush, into the mouth. I don’t care for berry-flavoured anything but this one smelled delicious and I did enjoy Prairie Berry. Maybe because there’s real berries in there!

I’m enjoying this. Excellent. I could see it being good cold. Someone described it to me as a “watered down Prairie Berry” but I’m not getting that. I think it’s quite flavourful.

Update March 11/13: I cold brewed this one all day (just over 7 hours) and it’s pretty good. Like a berry juice. I think it could use a little sugar but I’m reluctant to add any in case it ruins it.

My order from David’s Tea came today! And it couldn’t be a better day to have tea. Giant headache and all of my cats escaped (we found them).
This smells so good in the bag! The tangy acai berry is awesome – there’s the sweet/bitter scent going on.
I brewed this as just under boiling in my new New Leaf teapot.
The scent of the brewed tea is nice and mellow. Nothing leaps out at me or smells artificial or out of place, but I definitely get a big whiff of berries.
Flavor-wise, I’m not sure. I think I’ll try the next cup with sugar to see if that brings out some of the flavors. It’s the first non-rooibos herbal tea I’ve had in a while so it takes getting used to picking out the flavors here too.

I added some sugar to my second cup. It gives it a really pleasant initial sip, but the bitterness still came through after that. I know I didn’t brew it too long/hot, so I’m thinking that must be the juniper berries.
Martini lover that I am, I’m going to just try to think of it like a nice martini… berry… tea… thing. :D

I had this iced yesterday as we were picking up our 20g of each of the new teas. It was…different. I dunno, it tasted off to me, too tart kind of? I don’t know how to describe it, but at the end of the cup my wife and I agreed that Blueberry Jam was infinitely better.

Dry Leaf Nose: Sweet black tea and açai berry are prominent, followed by juniper berries.

Liquor: Rich brown colour with a slight blue tinge due to the açai berry powder

Flavour: Black tea is sweetened and accompanied by the açai berry powder, with an added sweetness from the blueberries. Rosehips add fruitiness, while the juniper berries balance the blend with a nice mouthfeel.

I went into the Uptown store today in a real funk. The wonderful staff (who have quickly become friends) picked up on it and surprised me with a cup of Superberry. Well, it definitely put a smile on my face!

I’m actually quite a fan of the juniper berries, they give the tea a bit of a bite, which is a welcome contrast to the sweetness of the blueberries. Normally not one to add sweetener to tea, I actually chose to add a tiny amount of agave to my cup, and it’s exactly what it needed. The sweetness of the agave highlighted the flavour of the acai, bringing the whole thing together.

After trying it iced in the summer, and being rather disappointed with it, I was quite thrilled to discover how tasty it is hot! It seems like a good tea for making a latte with, it’s strong enough to not get lost in the milky goodness. I can imagine it tasting a bit of mixed berry oatmeal in a latte. Hmm, might have to try that next time I’m in!

Be careful though, I feel like this would be really easy to oversteep. I went for about 4min30sec on mine and it’s nice and strong without any bitterness to it.

After procrastinating for I don’t know how long, I finally tried Superberry. I had a 10g sample on my shelf and kept sniffing it, but it never enticed me enough to give it a try. It has a piney smell that just turned me off. Well, I finally did it. DaisyChubb, you convinced me to bury my fear of Superberry. Thank you! Now I can clear that one off my list. And the verdict? Nothing special. It tastes of berries, though I’m not sure what kind. Fortunately the pineyness is wholly absent from the brewed tea. I won’t be buying any more of this, but I’m glad I tried it.

I seem to have difficulty brewing this tea correctly… it either tastes over-brewed and bitter or under-brewed and bland. So far I’ve brewed it twice with vastly different results, but now it’s too late in the evening for me to try again since a black tea has enough caffeine to keep me up for a good portion of the night. Alas, we shall have to wait until morning for the final verdict… stay tuned.

The next morning: Sigh. Still got it wrong… and it turned out slightly bitter. Again! Maybe you others will have more luck with this tea than I do because right now, I wouldn’t really recommend it. I can’t help but wonder if it would’ve been better without the black tea base, just the berries to steep, but then it might get an awful lot like Bear Trap.

So tired…too early need caffeine and fast.

Chose this lovely smelling gem.smells like berries berries! my mind gratefully explodes it’s sweet and tangy and set my tongue a buzz.

Less and for shorter..rule of thumb for DT’s black teas.Maybe if I type it enough I can help others truly appreciate these highly touchy(and wrongly marked IMHO)black teas.Sometimes it’s just a bitter parade and NO ONE wants that!

Once brewed smells exactly the same.YAY!
that rarely happens.
It’s just richer,deeper and like a sexy jam.I want to drown in this.

For taste it tastes like black tea..no bitterness.
Black tea and hint of jam.The aftertaste is nice but over all not exceptional.

I will ice this soon and review that..but I’m not spending more on this tea(thank goodness I only got the 20 gram bag).

For fruity wonder try paradise found and read my review..and steep blacks like I do!

Okay, I’m writing this note as I watch Monty Python, so this should be interesting.
So I had had this before and I liked it. (John Cleese is robbing a lingerie store). It is pretty peppy. I think that the Acai powder on the ingredients makes it sort of bitter, but also more interesting, as well as the juniper berries (talking trees). I enjoy it. It’s odd, but I enjoy it. I’m not going to give it a really amazing score though, because it leaves a weird taste in my mouth. Okay. And now for something completely different…

Now, the second steep was quite good. It was pretty, light, and fruity.

So I managed to go to David’s Tea last friday and got some nice stuff, such as a speical tin of Santa’s Secret and a cup of Superberry. I was looking to try something I didn’t have yet and so as per one of the helpful recommendations of my helpful sales associate, I settled on this tea. The smell was invinting and slightly reminded me of Blueberry Jam tea. I also enjoyed the taste of this tea. Looks like my next visit at David’s Tea will include getting a tin of this tea.

I had this one last night… and sadly I don’t care for it at all. I wish I did. I found it to be too bitter for me. I steeped it for the proper amount of time and everything, but I didn’t really care for it. I even added milk and sugar to see if that would mellow it out a bit, but it didn’t seem to do much to soften the bitterness. I just can’t seem to like it.
I’m not too sure how I’m going to drink the rest that I have. Maybe I’ll finally try the cold steep method I’ve heard so much about? I dunno.
Poor Superberry… you aren’t super to me.. :(

I really enjoy this one. It IS a lot like Berry Good, but if you need a little difference or you are a bigger fan of black tea, this is a great tea to start the day with.
it is also great as a little snack.