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Black Tea by Hawaiian Islands Tea Company
A vibrant tea flavored with Mango, which is considered by many to be the world’s most delicious fruit. We are very selective and our hand picked tea leaves are withered, rolled and fully processed using orthodox methods into a superior black tea. The result, when flavored, is a quality tea with unique flavor and smooth taste that blends remarkably well with the exotic Mango fruits to create our fragrant and flavorful Mango Maui tea.
I received this from a friend…straight from the islands! This is highly fragrant! VERY juicy and fresh aroma-wise! YUM!
This is a fine flavored black! The Mango is delightful! But you can still tell it’s a black tea. The aroma and flavor from this bagged fellow really amazes me! Very tasty!
DISCLAIMER: If you are looking for reviews of this tea prior to purchase, do not read this one. My tea is so old as to be completely non-indicative of the actual tea. Hence the lack of rating, as well.
Ooook, so this is an OLDIE. I mean, it’s probably 10+ years old. And not stored well. I have low expectations (although got some nice fruity mangoey smells just now… perhaps it won’t be as bad as I think?) My mom brought these back for me from Hawaii forever ago, and I drank a few bags’ worth, but that’s it, and have kept them around until now out of guilt. Perhaps if there’s a bit of flavour left, I’ll finally use them up! I have two other flavours as well, Pineapple Waikiki, and Passionfruit Na Pali. The last time I recall trying one of these (a few months ago), I recall much cardboardy flavour… but there was likely oversteeping then too. fingers crossed…
Ok. It smells a bit fruity in the cup now. Just a bit. Flavour-wise, I can definitely taste the black tea, and although somewhat astringent, I feel like it’s a touch malty as well, which is nice. Sadly though, this does not taste much like mango. And sure enough… there is a bit of a cardboardiness as well. No real surprise there.
It’s definitely drinkable, given that I brilliantly only steeped it for 3 and a half minutes, and without additions, even. I’d love to try a fresh batch of this (and the other) teas. I’m probably missing out, given TeaEqualsBliss ’ review & rating below.
Finally broke open the box. I was hoarding it for about six months, because it was a gift from my sister, who bought it for me during her honeymoon in Hawaii. So in other words, regardless of how this actually tastes, it’s automatically special. Hence the hoarding.
But she seems upset everytime she sees the still-sealed box, so I rationalized that I could just drink most of it, and leave one teabag of each flavor, (The box came with this, Pineapple Waikiki and Passion Fruit Na Poli, six bags of each) and still hold onto this precious memento.
Anyway, the smell of the bag worries me. It’s very potent and fruity, but in the way that threatens to taste very fake. Sure enough, it doesn’t actually contain any mango in it, it’s all “natural and artifical flavoring.” Which isn’t terribly surprising for a teabag. But still, this is my precious tea, so I’m hopeful it’ll taste reasonably good.
After taking the first couple sips, I must say I’m pleasantly surprised! It’s surprisingly not bitter for a bag — no additives, mind you — and I steeped to the maximum recommended time too. So far it doesn’t taste terribly fake, though since I made this with boiling water and no milk (milk and fruit? Blech!) so it’s still quite hot to taste it entirely, but so far it seems pleasantly sweet and fruity with a definite black tea taste. It’s definitely not real mango, but it tastes more authentic than any mango juice you can pick up at the supermarket.
Rating will come after I’ve finished the cup. :)
I am very very picky about mango, which isn’t the tea’s fault. I thought I would give this tea a try. I think I dislike mango flavoring. The tea has a perfect balance of tea and flavoring. It is good iced. I just don’t like mango as the flavoring, I prefer mangoes only in Indian food where it’s mixed with something. Mmmm, mango pickle or mango lassi, that’s something I could eat right now.
Brings back warm memories of hiking on the islands. Cool and refreshing. If a tea could be “Happy” this would be it!
Another review will likely be forthcoming when I’ve gotten over my cold and fully regained all my senses, but I did enjoy the 2 cups of this tea that I had tonight. Like its counterpart, Pineapple Waikiki, the fruit flavor wasn’t synthetic, and it wasn’t overpowering. It was just enough to add interest.
I agree with TeaBoat – this tea is downright happy. I use it for both hot and iced tea, and the mango is a pleasant reminder of summer. Fruit teas can often be too cloying, but mango pairs very well with black tea.
