Lady Hannah's Whole Fruit

My little packet is from The Tea Table, but I’m pretty sure it’s just a private label of the same stuff.

Heard on Dr. Oz the other day that hibiscus (my tea nemesis most days) is actually good for high blood pressure. So, based on what I expect to hear at my checkup next week, I think Hi and I need to make our peace.

So, rummaging around my bits and bites basket, I found this, and was pleasantly surprised. The hibiscus stays politely in the background and lets the other fruit bits take the credit. It’s very much like an unsugared (as opposed to painfully tart) berry cobbler.

This is an incredibly hefty, filling fruit tea, absolutely my favorite of the Tea Table tea of the month teas so far. It’s delicious and utterly full of fruit, with the strongest tastes being strawberry and blackberry. No matter how I steep it, it never comes out less than chewy — I am at a loss to know why the company’s website describes this as a “mild flavor”! Although they’re quite correct about its lovely deep magenta color. I need to order more of this right away.

I’ve actually tried this tea several times (I got mine from the Tea Table, which must share a tea source with Metropolitan Tea Company) and not logged it, for which I apologize.

This tea has too much hibiscus for me. It means the tea has a lovely pink color, but it also means a sourness that is quite hard to overcome. If you like tart herbal teas, this is great, but I don’t (and I have GERD, which means too-tart liquids are a bad idea for me in general, especially right before bed…and when am I drinking no-caffeine teas? Right before bed). The fruitiness is not obscured by the tartness; it’s definitely there all the way through, in leaf scent, brew scent, and brew taste. When I am constantly adding sugar all the way through drinking the cup, though, that’s just too tart for me.

It’s possible the 5-10 minute steep listed on the package is too long. I want to say this has been less sour with shorter steeps in the past. Last night’s steep of 7 min. was FAR too long, apparently.

But I don’t want to rate this tea down purely because of my own preferences. In ingredient quality, scent, fruitiness, etc. this tea does really well. So I’m giving it a decent score even though I don’t seem to be able to enjoy it. Try it for yourself. It’s way better than CS’s Zinger teas if you like hibiscus.

This is one of my longtime favourites. Its not very fussy, steeping time and water temperature don’t need to be scientifically calculated. It lives up to its name of whole fruit, you can eat most of the tea dry (some of it would be much too crunchy haha). I have made quite a few people fans of this tart, juicy, bright red berry tisane. Makes great iced tea but tonight I am enjoying it hot. I usually have this on hand and its a good go-to when I want something familiar.
I would recommend this tea to anyone who likes fruity/berry and not too sweet tisanes.

I do not drink this tea often, however I find it enjoyable. The hibiscus can make it taste quite bitter so you have to watch how long you steep it. I also add sweetener to it. It makes a great tea latte as well.