I think I might have to try this tea a few different ways… something just wasn’t right. I brewed it just as Teavana instructs. 4.5 tsp, 24 oz water, a tiny bit of rock sugar (just because I tend to like my tea a little on the sweet side). It’s beautiful to look at, enough so that I was a little sad that I don’t have anything clear to put it in, and smelled heavenly. I just think that when I purchased something called Raspberry Riot I expected something to really pop, and it just didn’t. It was fruity, but I didn’t get the lemon that others seem to (maybe I killed it with the rock sugar?), and the berry just wasn’t as intense as I would have liked. Maybe more tea? Less sugar? Ice it instead? I don’t know. I’ll drink what I purchased, I don’t mind it, but I’ll probably play with it a bit to see what I can do to improve what I perceived to be a rather weak tea.
Comments
What tempeature and steep time did you use? It may just be that it needs to steep longer; the Steepster page says 208 (just below boiling) for 5 to 6 minutes. It looks like for the most part this is more herbal than green, and most of the time for a strong tea you steep an herbal up to 10 minutes (the nuisance here is that the green tea would likely get bitter). Those flavors you wanted probably just didn’t get to steep well. Normally if I am going to increase the steep time on a green tea, I decrease the temperature. Wait 4 or 5 minutes after you’ve taken the boiling water off of the heat and then steep you tea, tasting occasionally after the normal steep time to see if you get the flavor intensity that you want.
What tempeature and steep time did you use? It may just be that it needs to steep longer; the Steepster page says 208 (just below boiling) for 5 to 6 minutes. It looks like for the most part this is more herbal than green, and most of the time for a strong tea you steep an herbal up to 10 minutes (the nuisance here is that the green tea would likely get bitter). Those flavors you wanted probably just didn’t get to steep well. Normally if I am going to increase the steep time on a green tea, I decrease the temperature. Wait 4 or 5 minutes after you’ve taken the boiling water off of the heat and then steep you tea, tasting occasionally after the normal steep time to see if you get the flavor intensity that you want.