Strawberry Kiwi Fruit Tea

I originally bought this tea to make iced tea, but I decided to try it hot tonight.
The dried herbal mix smells of sweet strawberries and kiwi. Very fruity. Once brewed there was almost no smell. There was no taste at all except for a strong astringent aftertaste. I added some German rock sugar and this helped slightly. As the tea cooled, there was a sweet strawberry and fruity smell. The taste became stronger and you could definitely taste strawberry. I didn’t taste any kiwi. There is still a strong astringent aftertaste.
I brewed this as per the directions on the package: 1 tsp, almost boiling water, 6 minutes. But next time I will use more tea and steep for longer.
Because the taste is getting stronger as it cools, I think it would make a better iced tea, or even cold brewed tea.
Overall I am satisfied with this blend because it is the first strawberry blend I have tried that actually tastes like real strawberries. Almost all other blends I have tried are artificial tasting.

I will admit that I am not the biggest fan of fruit teas in general, but that does not mean that other people will not enjoy this tea, so I would recommend it if you like herbal fruit teas.

Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of herbal fruit teas, as I often find that they have a watery body and mouthfeel with way too much acidity – and this tea is exactly that. It’s very fruity and tart and tastes more like fruit juice than tea. The only aroma I can taste is the strawberry – there is no discernible kiwi flavor in my opinion. It’s tart from the hibiscus and has the aroma of strawberries with an almost wine-like, sour smell. That’s it. But it pretty much tastes as expected. Harney & Sons probably did a great job with this tea – it is just not my favorite.

I will say that this tea is much better iced with sweetener than when it is hot and without sweetener. It’s probably very refreshing iced on a hot summer day. That’s the only way I would drink it.

Dry leaves, appearance:
Various big, mostly red pieces of fruits and flowers (hibiscus).

Dry leaves, aroma:
Strawberry, hibiscus.

Liquor:
Crimson red.

Packaging:
4 oz. loose tea tin.

Cold Brew!

cold brewed it in a medium Mason jar for 36 hours.
It is bright red from the hibiscus and the rose hips. It tasted like strawberry and kiwi – a bit artificial but that it is what I was expecting so I am not disappointed by that. The flavors are coming out strong. It is very tart and slightly bitter and thick because of tisane to water ratio. I was expecting it to be weak like other fruit teas so I went a little scoop happy. I would add a bit less of the tisane or add more water the next time I make it. This tea unlike other fruit infusions from different brands is not as sweet which is lovely. There are no artificial sweetners or sugary fruits in it which makes it so I can consume more of it without having the sweetness invade my taste buds

Now I enjoy drinking pitchers of cold, sweetened hibiscus tea frequently. Somehow this is so much more sour. I was hoping for a sweet strawberry flavor, but the dry leaf was mostly rose hips and hibiscus. I can drink it, but it’s just so tart. I have four ounces of this, and I’ll drink it, but I won’t look forward to my cold water bottle of tea at work as much for a while. So far Harney has not impressed me with its caffeine-free options.

The dry mix smells very earthy and fresh, with some berry thrown in. I think the earthy fresh smell is the kiwi.

Amusingly, after steeping, the aroma reminded me of hot Mogen David concord grape wine. Very sugary sweet, and something about the mix of the strawberry and kiwi recalled Mogen David to me. And I’m not just saying this because it’s Passover. I didn’t even get it together to make a seder this year.

The color is a deep, dark red. Sort of wine colored, but not the purple color of concord grape. Thankfully.

I like the taste. I think I actually like it better than the Magic Dragon from David’s the other day, so I’m rating it higher. But I wish I still had some Necessiteas Strawberry Kiwi to taste it against, as I quite liked that one. I’m not sure now, as it has been a while, but I may even like that one better. I see I rated it a 79. So I suspect I’d bump the rating now.

I ordered a few samples from Harney during their Black Friday sale (since you can’t get samples in their SoHo store :/) and this was one of them that I wasn’t sure about just yet.

Harney really stepped up to plate with this fruit tea! Most fruit herbals that I’ve had are really weak or Teavana/Davids where they add a lot of apple and super sugary dried fruits as fillers and this one doesn’t! The flavor is really strong and reminiscent of the Berry Kiwi Colada I like from Teavana. The strawberry is there in a very light way, not overly sweet at all. I can’t taste the kiwi particularly but I can’t taste the kiwi in Berry Kiwi Colada either so I think kiwi just isn’t a flavor that I can distinguish well in tea form. Overall it’s really good, the one downside is that I think it would be better in the summer just due to the flavors associated with summer over winter. I’ll have to try another cup of this when it gets warm and do a comparison with this and the Teavana tea as well.