So that thing I said about flavored green teas being hit or miss? I realized that when I wrote that about the Todd & Holland Copacabana, I was thinking about tropical fruity teas. The thing about those is if they have pineapple in them, and sometimes even if they don’t, I mostly taste pineapple. It’s a strong flavor and it overshadows other more subtle ones. Same with coconut. In any case, I often have trouble differentiating the various tropical flavors because everything tastes like pineapple or coconut. And then I say to myself, eh, another one of these.
I wasn’t thinking of this. I’ve known about Japan cherry tea for a while but I have never tried it until now. And I’m a fan.
Cherries, fresh cherries, are one of the fruity pleasures of life in my book. Cherry flavor, in my experience, is usually pretty consistent. It often reminds me of Kool Aid or Luden’s cough drops, and it’s more the associations that are off than the actual flavor. I’ve never really had a cherry flavored thing that I thought had flavoring that was too bitter or too sweet or too anything. Even the medicinal aspect often doesn’t bother me unless it has an alcoholic side to it.
I steeped this a bit hotter than usual for greens because the packet said to take it to near boiling. But I think the temp I chose was close enough. I steeped a bit longer than the directions (by 30 seconds) but I may try a shorter steep next time.
Cait said that this smells like cough syrup in the packet and I get what she meant — it’s a strong cherry flavored scent. But for me, it wasn’t medicinal because no alcohol side. It was more like Jolly Rancher cherry. It retains a cheerful candy-like aroma in the steeped tea, which is more golden than yellow.
But all of that smooths out in the flavor, which becomes more reminiscent (for me anyway) of the true cherry fruit flavor than candy. There’s nothing sweet about the flavor, though nothing sour or bitter either. It’s pretty mellow, but strong enough so that there’s no mistaking it.
I had this just after breakfast, but I’d like to try it with a clear palate and see if I come out the same way.
Flavors: Cherry, Grass
