Alpine Berry Herbal

Wow, Jaime was right, this is very Magenta!

I love the scent and color of this herbal blend. The taste is very berry, with a hint of something herbal/minty (maybe the blackberry leaf). I really enjoyed how fruity this was. I’m glad to have another herbal bagged blend that I can enjoy at night.

I really TRIED to do this HOT…didn’t work…blah. at least I can choke it down iced…sigh…

Beautiful color. Awesome berry scent. The taste even with sweetener is a little tart but mostly flat. I am not a big herbal or berry drinker. Maybe this is good. Maybe I just don’t get it. It was not hard to drink. I just wasn’t a fan.

It’s magenta!!! Deep, bright magenta!! In fact, it’s the exact shade I wanted my El Camino to be when I was 5. Yes, when I was 5, I wanted a magenta El Camino when I turned 16. I fully admit that I had (have) no taste. And, yes, this was one of the things that stuck in my father’s mind when 16 rolled around. Thankfully, he wasn’t that cruel.

Thanks to Meghann M for sending me a few bags of this to try! I brewed it like I do all my hibiscus teas: 10 minutes in boiling water (have I mentioned I like tart?). Loved the smell of the dry bags, and the individually wrapped bags themselves.

It’s not tart. It’s sweet, and thick, almost syrupy. I can taste the rosehips, the orange, the faintest hint of apple (almost a Pink Lady taste), and, of course, the hibiscus. This could rival some of the Republic of Tea’s hibiscus teas…that’s saying something.

What I’d really like to do with this is brew up a big pitcher, sugar the snot out of it, and then set it up in one of those “turn your juice into wine” home brewing kits. Oh, yeah, must get more of this tea!!

I always check out the tea sales when I’m at Earth Fare. A couple of weeks ago, two leaves and a bud were on sale. Since I was in need of more caffeine-free teas for evening consumption, I picked Alpine Berry. This is my first two leaves and a bud tea.

Sight
Dry leaves: Small green leaf pieces, orange peel pieces, dark pink-red pieces, pink-brown pieces.
Wet leaves: Larger green leaf pieces, larger orange peel pieces, muddied pink-red pieces.
Tea: Immediately began turning a rich mulberry, which ended as a black mulberry.

Smell
Dry leaves: Apple, rose, orange, generic berry – perhaps blackberry and strawberry.
Wet leaves: Warm apple, tart.
Tea: Apple, strawberry.

Taste
Weaker than I expected. Watery. Apple. Tart. No berry. I smell berry but no berry taste.

I am going to try steeping this longer next time, in hopes to get stronger flavor and less watery. Drinkable but not something I’d buy again unless it improves with experimentation. I’m going with a 50 rating (decent) for now but will probably lower it if I cannot improve the strength.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 teabags
Additives: none
Water: 16 ounces hot spigot
Steep Time: a little over 6 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell:
Steeped Tea Smell: sour, berry, floral, defiantly getting hibiscus and blackberry, if i sniff and think hard i get the citrus note at the end lightly. Not getting the apple or rose at all.
Flavor: delicious apple berry hibiscus punch! a little tangy, starts sweet, then sour/tang, then sweet again. I love it, it’s like a fruit cocktail.
Body: Full
Aftertaste: sweet berry with lingering apple
Liquor: deep dark opaque purple-red

See my company review here.

I love this tea, it’s delicious and full of flavor, and the flavors and a blend, you can pick them out if you try (well i can’t find the rose) but not the weird teas that the flavors seem to be separate and not mesh.

I need to cut back on my caffeine so there will be plenty more herbals coming up.

This packaging is excellent for at work, the individual packs keeps it fresh and i don’t need to keep the box when it gets low (and my drawer will still be clean). Also teabags are just so convenient at work.

Post-Steep Additives: none

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/two-leaves-and-bud-teabag-herbal-tea.html

Thank you Miss Meghann for sending this my way! I too am getting a faint minty smell here along with the yummy berry. The taste is very berry, even slightly sour ( I don’t really see this as a bad thing). There is a soothing quality to this tea. And I think I am detecting the mint in there with the taste as well (either that or its the power of suggestion). ;)

I don’t think I’ve had a berry tea that I’ve ever liked. Needless to say, I didn’t have high expectations. I expected it to be bitter, overpowering, and harsh; this tea was none of those things. It reminded me of very mellow red wine. Since I only had a sample, I will definitely be going out to buy a box.

It’s better with a cold brewing than hot, otherwise it’s too tart without a sweetener. It’s not exactly what I had expected upon buying. The mixed berry from Clipper Tea is much better. I haven’t made it in a while because of above reasons.

Ok, this will probably be the weirdest tea note I’ve made but here goes…

I REALLY like the taste of this tea. It is raspberry, apple, and something more herbal which I’d assume is the hibiscus. The berry flavors don’t get too strong or syrupy like they often do in berry herbals. The color is amazing: dark violet. But, I don’t really like the smell of it at all. This is going to sound strange but the smell has something in addition to the raspberry that I can only describe as a light mix of mustiness, chamomile, and vomit. Luckily that smell is not overwhelming. The smell gets much better after I add agave nectar to the tea. Despite the smell, I keep drinking it so I guess that says something. I’m on my 3rd cup.

It’ll be interesting to see if I keep drinking this after I get my tea order next week which contains some other berry herbal teas. I really have some mixed feelings about this one.

Steeped 2 minutes at 190 F.