Infinite Good Feeling

Oh my God.

Oh

My

God.

This is so good. So. Good. At the beginning it’s raspberry with a hint of lemon, but as the sip fades it’s creamy vanilla. It definitely needs sugar to tone down the hibiscus, but with the sugar this is amazing.

Ooooh, maybe I should add a splash of Vanilla Schnapps…

Edit: Very, very good call on the Vanilla Schnapps. OMG yum

Apparently this tea is so good it BROKE STEEPSTER. My wife and I have both been trying to update it since yesterday afternoon.

Anyway, this was my bedtime tea last night. I don’t reach for hibiscus teas often but we got ALL the RiverTeas yesterday so I wanted to try them all. And I don’t usually sweeten my teas, but that was my downfall. It really needed some agave or sugar to cut the tartness of the hibiscus. It was sad that it was so distracting because the rest of the tea was delicious – a big mouthful of strawberries and sunshine. It will make an amazing iced tea in the summer.

Yum yum.

Cold brewed this about 24 hours for my walk this afternoon.

I may have made it a bit strong, because the hibiscus came to the forefront a bit much for my liking. Next time I will consider sweetening it to take away some of the tartness.

Either way I enjoyed it enough to buy some in my RiverTea order, thanks for the sample, Courtney! :)

Sipdown!! (175)

When this first touched my lips, I immediately got a delicious dose of vanilla. Next, raspberry seeped in and then…HIBISCUS!! Tart, tart hibiscus. Should have cold brewed this one because there is potential there for this to be amazing. Alas, hot, the hibby it just too much. Nonetheless, thank you Roswell Strange for sending some my way.

Sipdown (183/187)!

…But only a temporary one: it sounds like I’m getting more of it from Courtney. Definitely looking forward to it!

I finished this baby off by cold brewing the last tbsp. and a half in two shots of Raspberry Vodka which sat in the fridge overnight getting all saturated and stuff. I then strained it this morning and now I’m drinking it in the evening with a splash of pineapple juice squeezed into it.

It’s bright, almost neon, purple! How intriguing!

I have to say – it’s not bad this way but it really isn’t anywhere near as good as it was prepared as a straight up, nothing fancy cold brew. When I have more I’ll probably just still to enjoying it that way.

Prepared like this, it’s a little more like the Raspberry Lemonade I was originally expecting, but with a creamy/burny aftertaste. And now that I’ve had my alcohol for the night I’m feeling sleepy so I think I’ll sleep it off and try to get well rested for the long, undoubtedly miserable, shift I have ahead of me tomorrow…

EDIT: Oh hey, I forgot to mention it in any of my tasting notes! Today is/was my friend Geordan’s 19th Birthday! He recently immigrated to Canada from Jamaica and this is his first year in Canada. It was kind of sad, really, that I couldn’t celebrate with him because of work. He recently asked me to make a tea sampler for him because he’s fascinated by my tea obsession: he has no idea what he’s in for…

I’m going to go all out and make the most massive sampler for him as a birthday present! He’ll be overwhelmed by all the tea. You know what’s really fascinating though? He grew up drinking almost solely herbal teas (Peppermint primarily) – but all the tea he drank was made with things grown in his backyard!

I find that a lot more interesting than my going online and just buying what sounds cool. He grew what sounded interesting!

They can’t all be winners. This one was far too hibiscus-heavy. I’ll try again with a shorter steeping time, since I went at the mid-steeping point suggested. I may also try it iced.

Thanks to De and aisling of tea for giving me a sample of this to try! This is my first taste of what River Tea has to offer.

Okay, so a little bit of background: today, for medical reasons, I had to fast. To prepare for a minor procedure, my doctor said not eat anything after midnight of the night before, and to drink as little as possible. Not wanting to risk anything, I just drank a glass of water in the morning. So I’ve gone most of the day without tea. :-(

Once I got home I decided to make up for this appalling lack by drinking something fruity and caffeine-free. So that’s where this tea comes in.

On first sniff, the dry leaf of this tea is very fruity and floral. I followed the instructions I was given, and ended up with a beautiful teacup of magenta-coloured liquid.

The smell of the wet leaf once it’s done steeping is different from that of the dry leaf, but very true to the taste of the brewed tea itself. There’s a layer of vanilla over everything, lending a hint of creaminess, but below that the strongest taste and smell is of hibiscus and rosehips (I find them very similar in flavour). I can see the lemon peeking out from underneath the hibiscus, but am finding it very difficult to discern the other fruit flavours that are supposed to be present. I sweetened things up with a touch of lemon-infused honey, but still the flowers are the strongest flavour.

Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of hibiscus teas, so this is really more of a novelty for me than a keeper. However, it was nice to have something to look forward to when I came home earlier today.

Well after dealing with some really terrible food poisoning, I can REALLY go for some “Infinite Good Feeling!”

And this tea really delivers. I was worried about the hibiscus, but I have no problem with it. Each sip is slightly tart, and super sweet, with strong raspberry notes, followed by a lingering creamy vanilla. It’s really delicious. I used my entire sample in my 24 oz mason jug which is great for now, but I wish I’d left some to try iced. I suspect I would drink gallons of this in the summer, and I could share it with the kiddo too!

I’m really happy I gave this sample a try – I wasn’t that sure I’d enjoy it.
(sipdown 186)

sooooo another of my samples from RiverTea. Long story short? this would be a fantastic, awesome tea…if there were no flowers in it. Sadly, i’m picking up enough floral notes (even through the tartness of the raspberry) that it lessens my desire for this tea. I really like the fruity base of this, and the creaminess of the vanilla….but i just can’t get past the floral notes in here. Anyone who doesn’t mind floral but loves raspberry cream should really try this though, as i think that would love this!