True Blueberry

I was talking to someone here on steepster about celestial seasonings made as iced teas. I just purchased a TON of tea, including some off amazon, so I decided to pick up a sample pack of celestial seasonings zinger teas (4 teabags each, 5 kinds of tea. the perfect amount for iced teas).

I just recently tried my first cold brew iced tea yesterday, so I decided to try this one cold brewed as well: Filled up my new 2L iced tea pitcher with cold water, placed the 4 tea bags in the water, then set it in the fridge.

All I can say is wow, I’m am VERY pleasantly surprised. I think I have tried a celestial seasonings tea before at my Mother In Laws place, but I didn’t have a good first impression because I think the box said “best before [5 years previous]”. I remember the tea tasting very cheap and, I think, stale.

After 1 hour of cold brewing, I took a sample of this tea. It was weak, but WOW you can definitely taste blueberry. I was shocked at how accurate the flavour was. I decided to let it brew for 1.5 hours more (2.5 hours total) and it was just perfect. SLIGHTLY tart and tangy from the hibiscus, with blueberry flavour afterwards. The slight tartness/tangyness doesn’t bother me at all because that IS the taste of wild blueberries. Awesome, and refreshing.

I must say, this is better than some loose leaf blends I have tried, yet this is approximately 1/4 of the price per pitcher (I have done the math: most DAVIDs tea iced teas cost about $3-4 per pitcher, this is $1-1.5). Plus, no cleaning filters since this is bagged tea! Lastly, did I mention that this tea apparently has no artificial flavoring? That’s better than what I can say for DAVIDs….

I absolutely recommend this tea, and I would totally repurchase.

EDIT: I have this fruit wine (Blueberry Shiraz) I made at the local brewery (it’s actually VERY sweet and closer to a cooler than wine by far) and mixed half tea, half fruit wine together to bring the sweetness down and to bring out more of the blueberry flavour. It’s awesome. Plus, the wine is about 12% and it brings down the alcohol level as well, which is good because it’s frickin hot in my apartment and I get dehydrated too easily.

I had this for the first time last summer, and I was craving a sweet berry tea, so I used two tea bags and made a strong brew! Just by itself, it was a little sour but I added lots of ice and sugar and it was delicious. :) it’s pretty good as a cup of warm tea after school too!

It tastes like an overly sweet, very slow death. God-awful, a single sip is enough to bin the box and look for something – anything – to take that taste off one’s tongue.

Wow, my husband was not joking when he said this smells just like blueberry muffins! It definitely reminds me of a blueberry baked good like pancakes or muffins or maybe even a blueberry jam. The color is a deep berry red and the flavor is tart, but with some added honey it’s quite good. I have to admit, it’s nice to be able to get back to a simple flavored tea after drinking straight unflavored teas for the last week or so.

It tastes like blueberries. It has the same sour taste as most Celestial Seasonings fruit flavors. It’s not bad but the flavor becomes acidic and quickly drifts into tart even without oversteeping.

I haven’t had this tea since I was a kid, so I decided it was time to revisit it. I remember it being a little more tart than I prefer, so I added sweetener to it. That definitely seems to have moderated the citrusy sourness of the Hibiscus. It tastes very fruity and rather like artificial blueberry and grape. The grape flavor is rather surprising and I’m still trying to decide if I like it or not. I’ll probably make up my mind before I finish this box.

Loveeeee this tea. Love it. I love how it smells exactly like blueberry muffins, I love how much it tastes like blueberry juice somehow. Very into. It does get tart towards the end.

This tea is delicious. It is very similar to black cherry berry; it has a little taste of hibiscus but with a little sugar it is not too noticeable. The blueberry flavor is a tad artificial, but that was what I expected and ultimately wanted when brewing this tea. I had it iced in my Winnie the Pooh and Piglet tumbler from the Disney Store. No shame, just goooood tea!

This is my favorite tea from Celestial Seasonings! It has a great flavor and the combination of blueberry and hibiscus allows for a beautiful purple cup!

I’ve been in the mood for blueberry teas lately and decided to give this one a try. The smell is pretty nice, but I feel that the tea itself lacks in flavor. It reminds me of when you’ve been chewing a piece of fruity gum and almost all the flavor is gone yet you can still taste just a little if you chew enough. I might finish the box off, but I wouldn’t buy this again.