This afternoon I decided to treat myself to this. This is one of my favorites from 52 Teas – it reminds me so much of an old time soda shop cherry cola. (No, I’m not old enough to actually remember those old time soda shops, but, I used to work at a retirement home as an administrative assistant and they had an old time soda fountain for the residents. This soda reminds me of the cherry vanilla cola I’d have there on occasion)
Today, the smell of this tea is more reminiscent of that “old time soda” than the flavor. I need to remember to limit the brew time of this particular tea to 2 1/2 minutes or less. Any longer and the tea becomes a bit too astringent and that astringency interferes with the flavors. Then again, it could be my present lack of ability to taste.
I chose this tea because I remember the flavors being quite strong… and yes, even with my taste buds impaired, I can taste the cherry and even a touch of the vanilla. And as I said, the black tea base is a bit more astringent than I remember it being, which leaves the mouth feeling a little dry.
Overall, though, I really like this tea. I am going to save what I have left of it for iced tea. Right now, we are having winter-like weather, so it’s no time for iced tea! I am not going to issue a numeric rating for this tea at this time, because I don’t really think it’s fair based on my inability to discern subtle flavors.
I like this one a lot and hope that they will not let it go “out of print”. One of my favorite 52teas concoctions.