Razzmatazz (Organic)

Comparing this one to Raspberry Nectar tonight, just for kicks, because I didn’t like that one and am not expecting to like this one. But had to try. Had to!

So initially upon steeping this one, I sniffed it and thought “raspberry lemonade”! There’s a sweet, fruity, lemony tartness that actually smells rather good, and made my mouth water. Until I made this fateful association… Sourpuss. Blue (or possibly red) Sourpuss. A drink I consumed far too much of back when I was… yeah. So now that I have that lovely association in my mind, the mouth-watering-ness has turned into a bit of nausea.

Luckily, the flavour isn’t quite the same, but it’s too close for comfort. I can taste a nice lemony tartness that is tamed by sweetness (stevia?), and the raspberry is not inyourface, but present moreso than it is in Raspberry Nectar, and becomes even more apparent in the aftertaste. Actually, compared to Raspberry Nectar, this tea is pretty fantastic.

I agree with aisling of tea that a splash of lime could go well with this. It might also work well in a mojito. Overall, I feel like this tea will probably be a hit with people who enjoy raspberry/lemongrass/rooibos, but I can’t help but wish for something that reminds me a touch less of an alcoholic drink I’d rather forget!

ETA: Re-steeped this one for curiousity (and noted just how large/fresh-looking the lemongrass pieces are… wow! Look like diced scallions, almost!) and the resulting brew actually smells pretty good. Gone is that strong alcohol association, and in its place is a light raspberry juice. Very reminiscent of the (melted water from) raspberry ice cubes a friend of a friend made for our mutual friend’s birthday last Saturday. Wow. Gone is anything gross or offputting, it tastes like real raspberries with just a touch of lemon in the background. I’m really glad I gave this one a shot and have a bit left to play with… this might make a very good iced tea! Upping the rating a touch :)

Also, I added some lime. Too much lime. It tasted like lime juice. I still think there’s serious mojito potential here though.

This really smells like an alcoholic drink. Oh hey, stevia, it’s just you.

I quite like this, so I am glad more is on its way from tigress_al! I almost forgot, so I was going to be very upset with myself that I didn’t try this before ordering from Davids last night. But now it’s okay!

It reminds me of blue raspberry too! And blue raspberry reminds me of when I was in Chicago a few years ago, I was with 3 car friends, and one left to ride in another’s car. So the remaining guy and I decided to go get slurpees, since our conversations had just basically been what food is in Atlanta that isn’t in Chicago and vice versa. We don’t have 7 elevens, so it was clearly what we needed to do to waste time until the others got back. I immediately chose blue raspberry. So blue raspberry always makes me think of riding in an Integra Type R on a nice autumn day, windows down, listening to Kings of Leon.

It’s nice to taste something very, very similar without it being a complete sugar bomb. Despite stevia always coming off as bad alcohol memories to me (why can you not shake these dumb underage errors ever? It’s not nice.) I think it really makes the rosehips and hibiscus in here into a tolerable tartness.

I’m resteeping the leaves as a cold brew overnight.

Thanks for this, Kittenna!

Please be advised – this note contains a rant, you can skip it if you like.

This is not a tea I would have normally bought for myself. It was given to me as a gift, which I am grateful for. Stepping out of the box!

Let rant begin: I hate it when a tea blend contains a sweetener, this one has stevia. If I wanted a sweetener in my tea, I would add it myself. Now I totally understand teas like pineapple upside down cake and pankcake breakfast, that contain a sweetener in the blend. But that is because they are mimicking a food. But there are teas that add sweetener, whether it be stevia or rock sugar or whatever, that don’t necessarily need it, like this tea. I will make my tea how I like it, please don’t force your sugar on me!

End rant.

On first smell, I wasn’t quite sure. To me it smelled like fermenting fruit/berries/grapes, like if you have ever smelled the mash that is used to make wine (and no, I am not a moonshiner).

On first smell, I got a sweet, tart smell, much like Sweet Tarts Candy. But underneath, there is that fermenting fruit smell. It almost has a carbonated drink smell to it, like pop/soda.

The tea tastes nothing like it smells. To me it tastes strongly of stevia (you will know what I mean if you have tasted the leaves of a stevia plant). I can taste the metallic notes of rooibos and the lemon verbena. A faint, slight generic fruity undertone, but I would not say it was raspberry. There is the aftertaste that I get with drinking carbonated drinks.

It does not taste anything like it smells, but I am still overall not a fan. I think I was jaded by reading the ingredient list, and thus, going on a rant. I think I will try is as a cold brew as I do with most of my herbals, and see what happens.

Had a cup of this iced on the weekend.
We went for a walk and it was HOT out – muggy hot, sweaty hot! haha.
That said, being extremely thirsty and bringing this along on our nature walk was really nice. Being outside surrounded by trees actually helped me appreciate the “herby” taste of the lemon grass and by the end of the walk I was craving it. Of course, there is still a slight medicinal taste, almost reminiscent of alcohol in a way. The more I drank, the more that taste sank to the background and the more I appreciated the very real, fresh, juicy raspberry taste. That raspberry flavour really saves the day with this tea!

Ehhhhhh, this is an odd one. Not sure I like it. Something about the flavour combo was offputting, but I can’t put my finger on why. It was almost as if a big bag of garbage leaked all over the counter, and someone wiped it down but the smell is lingering faintly in the background. and the taste… except you don’t know that the garbage was ever there and it’s so faint that you can’t quite pinpoint where it’s coming from.
That said, if you can get past the awkward initial part of the sip, the berry-ness is quite nice! but that’s about all I’m willing to say. It didn’t leave much of an impression beyond that, though it really does taste like berries, not just overall “fruit”.
Rating: 72

Backlogging from the weekend.
I really liked this one, I had it hot, but I think it would be great iced. Raspberry with a little lemon in the background. The hibiscus isn’t too tart. It actually words well here. The rooibos doesn’t come through too earthy which is great.
So, no hibiscus or lemongrass for me for awhile, so I am sending this one off tomorrow to Amanda!

Booze! This smells and tastes of booze. The beau and I got one as iced tea of the day then went right back in to pick some up to add gin to on occasion. How can this be so boozy? Aside from that, it was quite refreshing. Not too tart, not at all sweet. A lovely mix – almost like a kick-butt lemonade.

Fruit loops. That’s what this tastes like. I kept thinking and thinking, trying to put my finger on it. And then someone wrote “fruitopia” and my brain finally formulated it: fruit loops. I don’t like milk so naturally I don’t do cereal but I did taste fruit loops on occasion.

I got this tea as a sample with my order and I thought “here goes another rose tea.” Rose hips, rose petal, same thing right? Nope. I think the lemongrass does something good here. It is there on the sip but gone in the aftertaste, replaced by some fruit thing. it tastes so sweet. You know how jam makes your mouth feel? That sweetness that somehow you feel at the back of your mouth, at the base of your tongue and almost down your throat? It even smells sweet. And someone said the dry leaves smell like alcohol. I agree. It was the first thing I thought of when I opened the sample pouch. Alcohol. Not vodka or whiskey but some sort of fermented fruity alcohol.

5g sample pack, 10 oz boiling water. 4 minutes. Although this is herbal I was afraid to bring out too much unpleasantness by leaving a full 7 minutes. (I kept thinking rose congou green). I usually reserve the higher steep time for the second steep. so if a tea says 4-7 min. I will steep first for 4 and 2nd steep for 7 min. I apply this to every tea and so far have been quite alright.

Nope, not buying this one either.

Received this as a sample in one of my recent orders, I’m about to receive my 3rd order in less than a month. I do not have a problem haha

Ugh I hate the way the stevia makes this smell, so much like alcohol. Hey don’t get me wrong I like me some alcohol, but I don’t want my tea tasting/smelling like it, unless I add it.

Alas all that aside this is actually quite good, sweet & tart & berry. I bet this would be really good iced.

I got this tea from JustJames quite some time ago – thank you!!

I thought I would try this one as a hot and cold brew. I messed up. I didn’t have enough leaf to do both. The hot brew had a slight tartness to it, but it wasn’t overpowering. The cold brew didn’t work out at all – but it was completely my fault.

I can’t properly review or rate this tea, ’cos I messed up. :(