Blazing Strawberries

Hmmmm. Tea of last evening after a few glasses of wine….

And that is where the comedy of errors started. I steeped it way too long, and as I was looking into the infuser, I saw this thing that reminded me of some kind of worm. I say reminded, because on closer inspection, it was some kind of seed. Weird. I did not see any others (I have two samples, one from Uniquity and one from DaisyChubb. Thank you, Ladies!) The bamboo was light, but I really did not get any of the blazing or strawberry…but then I could have killed those tastes in my epically long steep. Moral of the story…don’t drink and make tea…..

I think a five minute steep is on the light side of things as my cup tasted a little bit weak. It was quite an intriguing tea (or tisane, I guess), lightly grassy with fruity strawberry flavours and a smooth, almost creamy feel in the mouth. I’m not getting any heat from the peppercorns so the ‘blazing’ part isn’t really happening at the moment – but at least the ‘strawberry’ is!

On a side note, I’m glad I finished my tea before reading the horror stories about finiding snail and worms in this tea – now I’m afraid to look at the spent leaves. 0_o

Mehh. So. My story with this tea.. And why I can’t give it a numerical rating…

I had first read the review about a snail in someone’s Blazing Strawberry tea. Which made me wonder.. if I had the same batch that had been snail infested. Or a different batch and snails just took a liking to this tea and decided to make it their home.
So I have to say I already had a bit weary apprehension before steeping this up.
Very cool looking dry leaves, smelled of yummy strawberry candy with buttery vegetal notes as it was steeping. But when I went to remove the leaves when the steeping time was up, I noticed something strange looking floating in my cup.
It looked like a translucent worm or mucousy tubey something or another….. and it appeared to have a weird opening on one end that looked like a mouth with teeth. So I fished it out and put it on a plate to dissect. I slit it lengthwise and I was already grossed out but I’m quite the curious person. I noticed something that appeared to look like veins and scraped out what appeared to look like purplish blood. So at this point I was still on the fence of whether this was some strange plant or weird insect or snail larvae or something. :/
Then I looked up the ingredients and googled mallow blossoms. It’s very possible that it was an unopened mallow blossom, the purple being the purple color of the unopened petals… I hope.
So anyways after all of that I still decided to take a reluctant sip…because I’m a brave person, and I did.. but just couldn’t bring myself to drink any more after my dissection and the story of the snail. I was just too grossed out to even drink this whether it be silly or not. So down the drain it went. ._.

I received this in a swap – thanks so much! (at first I thought it was Jess but now I am thinking it was DaisyChubb…so sorry! Thanks regardless!)

I hate to say this because it seems everyone is digging this one fine and dandy but I didn’t find it all that impressive. I mean…it wasn’t BAD…it just didn’t have much flavor at all. The strawberry was barely-there and I got even less to no peppery kick. It resembled more like hot water than anything.

This one just didn’t work for me…perhaps it’s that I just didn’t understand it or perhaps I was left wanting…I look for fairly intense strawberry in my strawberry themed teas, I suppose. Again, it wasn’t bad – it just didn’t really taste like much to me. Glad I got to try it tho!

I’ve only ever had bamboo in savory applications so a sweet fruity bamboo should be interesting. Since everyone is saying that this tea is light, I was wondering how much leaf to put in, but I didn’t have to wonder long since I accidentally spilled some onto the floor and was left with what seemed like a little more than I’d want to use for one mug. Cool!

The liquid is lightly colored and it smelled a bit earthy and strawberry-y. I didn’t find the flavor too light, but I like light teas. There’s a hint of peppercorn and a strawberry finish. Very nice. There’s a character to the taste that I can’t describe. It reminds me of earth, not because it tastes like earth but because it is solid and grounding. I wouldn’t describe it as refreshing, but it is complex and tasty.

Strawberries always win.

Thanks for another great sample DaisyChubb.

Bizarre combinations sometimes completely win me over I’m looking at you Strawberry Ginger and you Exotica..(2 of my absolute faves)I even like Splash!I am not a big fan of ginger but apparently it can actually be nice when balanced off other flavors.

The pouch smells kind of like a very old fruit-rollup with almost a tang of something licorice like.

Once brewed it is totally clear with a slight gold finish..the smell of strawberry is totally there and something else that I can’t place at the moment it’s also got kind of a syrupy or honey vibe.

The taste is very very light wasn’t that flavorful there’s no spice to it..I can see the potential perhaps..I will try again but put way more in then I originally did ..I always heap the perfect spoonful in and steep fully so it amazes me how weak this tastes..it’s like a very very very watered-down impression of a photograph of DT’s Exotica..It’s basically hot water with an aftertaste..

Will try again..but I’m still rating it if it improves I will do my duty..I wanted to do a “if you like this then you’ll love this” type of thing but it seems that all I can recommend is Exotica<3.

WOW! Strawberries! A strong summery flavor that actually blazes over the tongue! I’ve never had a bamboo tea before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I need to have a second helping to really seal the deal on this one, and I think I’ll try it iced since everyone is just RAGING about it.

Big thanks to DaisyChubb for the sample!

This was… good? I have a question mark because, well, I’m still questioning what I think of it.
I enjoyed the bamboo, it makes a really nice, light, toasty sort of base. I think it lent some sweetness to the brew as well, as I seemed to taste two distinct notes that had a sweet nature to them.
The first, right on the inhale, tastes almost like a flowery honey. Then comes the strawberry, it’s very light, mixed with the bamboo in the background as well, but then all of a sudden, boom! the pepper kicks in. and then on the finish… a succulent strawberry note.
Now, I don’t like peppercorn. In fact, it’s one of two or three foods I name when people ask what flavours I dislike (bacon is the other, and ginger in my food, not so bad in my tea) I wonder if the “pink” makes a difference? hmmm
Iced, I think it would be fun, but I can almost picture how it would taste so I don’t really feel the need.
I’m a tad all over the place cuz this tea was sandwiched between my first day of work and watching the Lion King musical. I had to rush the tea to, they wouldn’t let me in the door with my cuppa :(
(tea discrimination. an outrage I tell ya)
So. I don’t think I’ll buy this one, but I am delighted to have tried it. I feel like I learned something about tea today, with the bamboo and all, and I love that!

Cold steep overnight last night (can you tell I’m looking forward to iced tea season already?) This is a tea that most definitely benefits from a long steep and being on ice. The peppercorn pop comes out and really accents the strawberry flavour. I’m actually kind of sad that this didn’t become permanent because it really is a lovely summer tea.

I actually really like this one. Its very unusual hot. The bamboo makes a light but tasty base, and hot the peppercorns are the prominent flavour. Its not an agressive taste, but its there. I quite like it, which is surprising considering I don’t really like them in food. Iced, its a very soft tea. I like to amp up the flavour by adding actual strawberries. A light, soft tea iced. Have about 25g left, will enjoy finishing it.