I tried this tea in the sachet (not loose) form and when opening the package, the smell of berries was incredibly alluring. I steeped for 5 minutes and unfortunately that lovely smell of berries was barely noticeable. The taste was slightly citrusy (though not mouth puckering so) but also quite grassy with a very slight hint of mint (barely noticeable).
On a whim, I kept the tea bags in the water and after an additional several minutes, the berry aroma was a bit more pronounced, though not in the flavour of the tea unfortunately. The flavours are much more pronounced and developed after a longer steeping time, so I recommend steeping for longer than the recommended 4-6 minutes – perhaps about 8 minutes, though it does take on a herbaceous quality with the longer steeping time. There’s a bit of a floral aftertaste that I’m still deciding on if I like it or not. I did like it much better on the second tasting, however, overall I’m not a big fan of this tea unfortunately.
Iced, this tea is much more citrusy, the grassy floral tones are gone and the slight berry flavour is more pronounced – I enjoyed it much more iced than hot. I tried the iced with a bit of honey and it mellowed out the floral tones and made it much more enjoyable. (Rated lower as I’ll have to ice and doctor the tea with honey in order to finish the box).
Edited to add: After several tastings, I’ve had to lower my original rating of 50 to 30. I just can’t finish this tea at all – luckily I’ve found if I brew it with some plain green tea for iced tea for my husband, he likes the flavor profile (half green/half Tilleul Fruits Rouges).
