Sakura Allure

Originally I wasn’t going to order anything from Teavana, but then I made the mistake of looking at their sale and seeing their awesome prices. And then I caved. My order is still in processing (and I’m still waiting on an e-mail from them). This tea is not from this order.

I thought I had ordered this tea, but I looked at my receipt and saw that I didn’t. I was NOT going to go to the mall, but I really wanted this tea, and customer service was not answering. So, I called up my local Teavana to ask if they still had this tea in stock. Sure enough, they did (and lots of it), so hi-ho to Teavana I go. I probably could have picked up some other teas had I just waited, but eh. Here’s hoping my order ships all right because a few of the teas aren’t even showing up anymore.

I also wanted to go to Teavana because I bought a Yixing mug on black friday at 40%. It was discounted to 50% the day after Christmas, and I wanted to get a price adjustment since I was in my return window. Well, I learned that you can’t return sale items (boo). But the manager took pity on me and gave me free tea (yay!).

I almost didn’t pick this tea up at all. So many of this on sale teas had mixed reviews. This one got not so bad reviews. I was warned that this does not have a strong green tea flavor and I will repeat – it does NOT have a strong green tea flavor. I can’t taste any tea at all. The hibiscus is strong with this one, and it’s definitely a fruity tea. It’s a good tea for people who don’t like tea, but from reading the other reviews it also appears kinda finicky. I bet this would be a really good iced tea. I hot brewed this, but maybe next time I should cold brew it.

It’s not overly tart, though, which is nice. I’ll give it a somewhat higher score and cold brew it and see what I think later..

Thanks to Autumn Hearth for this!

I like this a lot. I’m not getting anything particularly cherry, but that’s okay. It’s a very light, fruity tea. The color is pale pink and very pretty, and when I left the strainer in an empty teacup for several hours, the few drops of water kept steeping with the leaves and left the bottom of the teacup filled with tea the color of cherry juice.

I’m a fan!

Thanks to Nicole for this one! The name alone sounds very tasty, and I do love a good sakura tea. Or cherry, which is what most sakura teas really are since it’s hard to find sakura outside of Japan.

I didn’t know how much was going on in this blend until I looked at the listing—mango, pineapple, what? Teavana seems to put pineapple in EVERYTHING. Also… hibiscus. I thought there would be none here but I cold brewed this and opened the fridge in the morning to a bright red brew. Oh nooo!

There is a nice cherry flavor here, but there are just so many competing flavors. I was hoping for a simple blend—cherry, bamboo, green tea. But there are tropical notes, a bit of sourness from the hibiscus, floral from the rose, and then a bit citrusy from the lemon peel. It’s just… so much, my tastebuds are a bit overwhelmed! I think this is a great idea for a blend but it’s bogged down by a lot of extra stuff that doesn’t need to be there.

Received this one from babble

This has a slight medicinal smell.
This brewed up a dark red, it’s got a nice cherry flavour, with just to say a bit of a medicinal taste. I’m getting the green tea base at the end.

I’m also getting a slight tobacco aftertaste?

Hmmm very interesting this one. Thank you Tamm for sending me a sample. I’ve had green teas with cherry in them and they are OK to say the least. The dry leaves smell quite nice. You can’t really taste the pinnaple or the cherry but I feel like I’m drinking a rose garden with this one….and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. I didn’t find it to be nasty but I don’t know if I would keep this one on hand on a regular basis. Glad to try it though.

Overall this isn’t half bad compared to some of Teavana’s other blends I haven’t been enjoying too much. It is difficult to taste any green tea in here, it brews up PINK and the fruit flavors are predominant. Thankfully the hibiscus takes a back seat in this blend (I’m not really a fan). I think I can taste the bamboo which gives it another interesting dimension. I will try brewing this up with some extra plain green tea to see what happens. Not totally blown away by it but it was pretty tasty in my opinion.

Pretty disappointing — this has a lot of things in it and looks beautiful, but the taste is painfully reminiscent of a simple Celestial Seasonings zinger. Even a stronger green tea taste could make it a lot better, but alas, it’s all tutti-fruity with a slight cherry lean.

This is a favorite in our house, very smooth green tea base and a natural sweetness that requires absolutely no sugar. I’m not on a big flavor kick right now but the husband brewed some up and let the tea maker finish draining over my mug. This everything Snow Geisha is not, no medicine, no weird astringency. The hibiscus can flair up a bit tart at times and the flavor does an interesting morphing thing as it sits in the cup, but over all it is very palatable. I often recommend this as gift tea especially for those that like Youthberry as they have some common ingredients and it’s beautiful and fluffy so you get more for your money and it fills a decorative tin nicely.

I. Loathe. This. Tea.

It tastes like cherry cough syrup to me…I’ve tried mixing it with EVERYTHING, and nothing makes it taste better. :/

Backlogging from a couple of mornings ago. My mom got us this tea as a part of her present to my hubby (which was a cast iron tea warmer ^_). We tried it one evening and liked it pretty well, but I always give a tea at least two tries before I pronounce a verdict, just as a failsafe. (I probably should give it more trials than that, but I’m not sure I have the patience or perseverance.)

Anyway, I was very enticed by the smell of the tea—I love sour cherry, and this tea smells pretty much exclusively of that flavor. While I am generally, on principle, opposed to one-note-flavor teas, I was intrigued about the bamboo and decided to look for it more this time (I hadn’t known it was in there the first time we tried the tea, and so I wasn’t looking for it).

Well, I couldn’t find the bamboo. I’m not certain bamboo even has a flavor when steeped in hot water, so I couldn’t really be sure… but I know what bamboo tastes like, so I was sort of looking for that woody, mildly celery-like flavor, and I couldn’t really find it. Nor could I find any of the other fruits mentioned in the ingredients, except the cherries. Not even the hibiscus, which is a fairly familiar flavor to me, as it’s in lots of other teas I have. As far as the flavor of the tea goes, I could tell that there was a middling-quality green tea in there, but that was about as far as it went. I’m not saying this tea was a let-down, but it probably won’t turn into a favorite. It’ll get drunk, but probably not re-bought. I think I will give it another trial, since I was on the fence about it the second time around. More to come.

This tea is so juicy! I love it! My favorite thing to do with it is mix it with jasmine green tea and add honey.

1st: If you are LOOKING FOR a STRONG GREEN TEA flavor… THIS IS NOT THE TEA FOR YOU

I got this tea with the sakura allure gift set, which i love. The best way i can describe the flavor of this tea is like unsweetened cherry-cranberry juice. It also taste better cooler then warmer. I have tried to steep it twice, but the second steep is VERY floral with a lot of the fruit flavors gone. However, I do taste more of the green tea flavor.

It should be noted that due to the green tea in it, if brewed for too long, it does get a bitter after taste

Specifics

Brew Temp: 175F
Steep Time 2:30 + 3 Minuets.*
Tea Base: none or later steepings of Thai Mountain Oolong (teavana)
Sweetener: 1/2 TBS light Agave or none at all per 14oz glass

Note: the cooler the temp it is drinked at, the more juice like flavor it has.

*To get the full cherry flavor but with out the bitterness of longer steeping, leave the cherry pieces out side of the tea infuser and steep for about another 3 minuets.

I would recommend this to someone who loves cranberry juice and as an alternative to juice with out all the sugar and calories.

Hmm. My sister gave me this tea for my birthday. It smells divine, but I was weary of all the ‘stuff’ mixed in. It brews up pink and fruity. Is there really green tea in here? And what is bamboo supposed to taste like anyway? I was a little disappointed at the lack of cherry blossom flavor. It just tastes fruity with a werid potpourri smell once it’s brewed. And by now you probably know how I feel about hibiscus. :/

That said, it isn’t bad. It’s just too fussy for me. Maybe next time I’ll fuss with it a little more and try it iced, and I’ll maybe add some sugar or lemonade ala Starbucks. This is a good one to pull out for serving friends who aren’t ‘serious’ tea drinkers. I think it’s one most people will generally like.

I swear this is a mystery tea. Its sweet and tart all at the same time. And don’t eat something like a cookie while drinking it or it’ll become extremely tart as you sip. I just made that mistake halfway through!

I get only a slight hint of cherry here, and the bamboo is lovely, but it seems almost to be too strong, as if it wants to beat my tastebuds into submission to convince them of the tea’s awesomeness. Which, I never did like when people tried to make me believe something . . .

I have to say it was a worthwhile trip to try this tea in the gift set. The deep reddish pink of the sour-cherry elixir is pretty in the Japanese Sakura blossom tea set that the store used to carry back in the day. It’s like drinking hot cherry cranberry juice in a way. Not exactly “Zen” but what can you say? Unlike Snow Geisha it doesn’t give you a punch in the nose and make you feel like drinking medicine so that is another positive, right?

Which is ironic since the description given shows that this one is a sort of medicine for the immune system. BUT I digress. It is a very pretty and refreshing blend. Perfect for iced tea in the summer or for late spring. Especially in the thermos that comes with the gift set which is elegant simply on its own.

I have to hand it to them their tea accessories are par-none to most stores. I have yet to find anyone else who makes such pretty floral tea tins, cups and tea pots just like Teavana. I admittingly store a lot of my tea from David’s and other tea stores in their tins just because of the artistic mastery of their designs. I love them.

Having this tea right now and all I can think is…. wow, love the color. The brewed liquid is awesome, gorgeous cherry red color. The leaves are very pretty too, I see big chunks of dried fruit, cherries and pineapples. Stepped it for about 4 minutes instead of the recommended 2. I tend to forget that I am making tea and always forget to set the timer.

Okay so taste…… its interesting, it tastes just like cherry cough drops. hmm, not sure I can get past that thought. It tastes like someone melted a Cherry Halls into my cup. Not my favorite, and not something I will buy again, but I am sure I will finish what is in my stash.

I didnt really care for this one too much. The medicinal smell and artificial aftertaste I didnt care for at all!

Just bought this and tried a cup. It’s a pleasant tea but the fruity taste is much more present then the green tea taste. The fruit really does come out. I can taste some cherry some pineapple it does have a little tartness too it but nothing bad. I sweeten it with a bit of stevia. It’s decent but not sure if I would purchase again. I would prefer it to be a bit more balanced were I can taste the green tea equally as the fruityness.

A decently flavored green tea that has notes of rose/cherry. It’s a nicely balanced tea, if you over steep the green tea does become bitter.

There is a very distinct tartness here but I don’t mind it too much. I think there needs to be a bit more green tea to help round it out some and I’m considering blending it. The fruit flavors are very pronounced and if overstepped (even just a little bit) the fruit flavors (in addition to the green tea) turn bitter; it taste like lemon peels. I found this out the hard way when my roommate steeped it for a minute too long, it was terrible! Adding sugar to it has never done much for me so I just drink it unsweetened. On its own there’s nothing about it that makes me want to re-purchase, but I imagine it would be good blended with other teas so I will give it another chance.