Backlogging
I got a big, beautiful tin of this during the Memorial Day Blowout on Steepster Select a while back and I was super-excited to try it because of my love of all things coconut and the fact that it was blended with honeybush which I’ve come to enjoy rather more then rooibos.
The dry tea smelled AMAZING. Like “wow!”, “yum!”, and “can I eat it?” all at once. There were giant chunks of pineapple (a wee bit shocking at first) and nice big flakes of coconut. The scent was sweet with that rich creamy note I associate with coconut.
I made a cup of this following the directions on the tin, and went up to the 10 minute steep time because I wanted to maximize the flavour and since there’s no worry about bitterness why not? I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a sheen of coconut oil floating on top of the tea which I’ve come to expect from my other pina colada blend. I first tried it neat, and found it rather lacking in flavour. From the smell I’d expected a solid punch of tropical-sweet and coconuty goodness but it just wasn’t coming through, instead I mostly tasted honeybush (a slightly sweet woodsy flavour). I added a bit of honey to see if that would bring out the pina colada flavours and it did to a certain extent, the pineapple notes got more prominent but it didn’t do anything for the coconut.The coconut in particular was a let down, I’d really hoped for the rich, almost oily mouthfeel I’ve gotten from other coconut teas, and the chunks of coconut in this one should have provided that…
Overall it was an alright tea that tasted okay, so I’m not really sure whether I’m actually disappointed or my expectations were just too high. Based on this I’m going to score it generously in hopes that my next attempts are more satisfying. Next time I’m going to forgo the honey and try a bit of milk/cream and see if that gives this tea more of the decadent heft I was hoping for.
