I’ve been drinking this tea pretty steadily over the last couple of weeks, and have never once managed to write a tasting note. An oversight that needs redress. This has actually been one of my favourite fruit teas for a long time, probably because it’s not too sweet or artificial tasting. It’s also one of the few where the taste of the hibiscus is, thankfully, more or less drowned in the flavours of the other berries. Dry, this tea smells like a dried forest fruits mix. The pieces of fruit aren’t very big, but I can more or less identify everything that’s supposed to be there. From small elderberries and currants, to pieces of blackcurrant, blueberry and cranberry – they’re all more or less represented. The telltale colour and shape of hibiscus is also noticeable, but the less said about that the better.
I’m struggling to identify the dominant flavour in this tea. I think it’s blackcurrant, but it’s a difficult call. The elderberry and currant come through quite well, but the other fruits are pretty lost. I think the whole reason I like this tea so much is because it’s slightly sour tasting, and very dark. After 3 or 4 minutes, the liquor is a very dark burgundy, almost black. Despite this, it’s still a very pleasant fruit tea – and, on re-acquaintance – still one of the best I’ve tried so far. I drank it iced most of last summer, which it takes too well because it’s easy to brew strongly and it doesn’t get watered down. At the moment, though, I’m drinking it hot at least a couple of times a day. With all the snow we’ve been having, it’s one of the nicer things I’ve had to look forward to upon arriving at work. Just like hot Ribena, only far less sweet and with added health benefits. I feel like I should be saying far more about a tea I love so much, but I guess it’s something I’m going to have to come back to. In the meantime, suffice to say that there’s nothing more I could really want from a drink, and this will definitely make my repurchase list once again!
