Blueberry Merlot

This one surprised me. It smelled absolutely delicious, as everyone’s noted. Ripe, fresh blueberries. But I was a little apprehensive after the other reviews and after seeing how dark this turned out. It also smelled really potently sour. It was tart and sour, and on my first few sips I thought it tasted like a grape-flavoured Kool Aid sort of thing, but I grew to like it.

Iced tea time!

First of all, it cold brewed beautifully. The colour is just as deep and rich as the hot brewed cup!

First sip… very sagey and tart. Not unpleasant though!

Verdict: the hot brew worked better to get that tasty blueberry flavour, so if you’re going to try it iced I suggest a hot brew with ice rather than a cold brew.

All in all it’s refreshing though, I can see myself sitting outside on a hot day with a little cheese and lemon cake. Man I want to pair this tea with food so badly!

Edit: As I got to to the bottom of my cup I wasn’t liking it as much. Ended up dumping it because the herbiness (herby-ness?) was getting to be way too much. Tasted sage all day.

Steep Information:
Amount: Single Steeps packet
Water: 12oz hot spigot water
Tool: kati loose tea system (my Review here.)
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes (http://steep.it/5%20minutes)
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: cherry, berry, hibiscus?
Steeped Tea Smell: berry, tart, floral
Flavor: hibiscus
Body: Full
Aftertaste: tart
Liquor: barely translucent dark purple-red

Too much hibiscus, and I like hibiscus.

Pictures: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/03/tea-forte-loose-leaf-single-steeps.html

Sipdown

I received this as a birthday gift last year, as part of a bigger kit of other samples. This was one of my favourites of the other kinds.

At first sniff: Blueberries, smells yummy. Takes over your room/kitchen.

At first steep: Brews up a dark purple red. The blueberry comes out and I taste the hibiscus as well (probably what’s making it so tart.) I don’t get much of the sage, but that’s okay. Sage requires a light hand and so can be quite off-putting if you over use this spice. I like this tea, but probably won’t buy it again.

Based on two experiences: my wife’s and my own

Experience buying from Tea Forte: Good. Website is very colorful and easy to navigate. Given free samples after responding to Steepster invitation. Package came in reasonable amount of time. Other than sending my address, no e-mail or phone contact.

Age of leaf: Unknown. Steeped within a month or so of receiving.

Packaging: Creative: a grayish somewhat transparent plastic bag with five smaller “Single Steeps” packs attached to a colorful paper backing describing each tea. The tiny tea foil packs themselves are the most colorful and most professional-looking tea packages I have ever seen.

Dry Leaf: Strong, rich smell, definitely has a berry scent to it. Very colorful looking tea (blue, light and dark red bits).

Brewing guidelines: (package states 12 oz. I used closer to 16 oz.) Two steepings: 1st: boiling, 3mins. 2nd: boiling, 5 mins. (the next day). Small amount of Stevia added. Basket strainer inside ceramic 16 oz. cup.

Aroma: smelled like berries.

Color of liquor: 1st steeping: Beautiful, deep purple-red color, just the way I would imagine a glass of red wine would look! 2nd steeping: not quite as colorful.

Wet leaf: smelled somewhat like candied berries.

Flavor: 1st steeping: Strong berry taste. My wife really liked it, but I felt it was a little too tart, and had some off flavor, almost like it was stale. 2nd steeping: about the same as the first, but not as strong, and the tartness and staleness was muted.

Value: Free sample, but their price on their website is more than I would be willing to pay if I purchased it.

Overall: Overall, it is a fun tea to experience, but the flavor was not very well balanced for my tastes. I enjoyed drinking it once, and I would drink it if someone offered it to me, but I don’t think I would buy it.

This was another of the samples generously sent to me by Tea Forte. Tried this cold brewed overnight for around 20 hours – used the entire sample in 12 oz of water, as directed.

What I have noticed with these samples is that the smell of the dry leaf right out of the bag seems indicative of whether I’ll like the tea once steeped. Mojito marmalade=delicious, apricot amaretto and kiwi lime ginger = not. So when I first put this in water to steep and liked the scent I had high hopes.

Once steeped, the tea (okay, well it is a tisane, I guess) actually smells more like a juice than anything else. A blueberry/cranberry juice. It also looks like a juice – a dark reddish purple color, which I expected from the blueberry and hibiscus. It smells really really good and fruity. And the taste?

Well, the taste is tart, as you’d expect blueberry and hibiscus to be. Yet also sweet, from the fruit as well. And then in the background there is some sage to add another layer at the end of the sip. On their site TeaForte states that this tea won an award at the tea championships, and I can definitely see why. It seems that so far with their blends I have a love or hate reaction – but when their blends are good – they are REALLY good. I’m glad I got to try this at the tail-end of summer – it’s the perfect time of year to have it, and something I’ll want around me when the weather gets super hot again!

The steeped scent is very yummy. Blueberry berriness with a strong kick of the sage. It mixes strangely but well.

It’s so far been my experience with most flavored teas and tisanes that, at best, the scent is wonderful but the taste is quite lacking. Not with this.

The flavor is strong and not watery. The blueberry is strong on the tip of the tongue and up around the top of the back of the mouth. The sage is strong but not overwhelming, giving the tea a very tasty zippiness. Each sip fills the mouth pleasantly, leaving nothing of the lacking feeling I get from all but two tisanes I’ve had.

I’d buy more of it.

I meant to steep this for the recommended 5 min, but I accidentally steeped it for 7 min. This tea smelled wonderful out of the bag, like sweet blueberries and just a hint of earthy sage. After brewing for 7 min, I was surprised how dark this brewed. I have never seen a tea brew this dark luscious red color, it was beautiful and made me want to drink it right away. At first sip you definitely taste the blueberries and maybe a bit of cherry and then later you catch a bit of sage and rosemary. I like the flavor combinations a lot, but I didn’t like the tart taste at the end. About half way thru the cup I decided to put a little sugar in it and wow, that made a big difference. It took the tea from a 5 to a 8 right away. This has a nice thick mouth feel, I really enjoyed it.

After trying it with some sugar I think I will probably buy it someday. I love the deep dark red color and can’t help but think it is chalked full of anti-oxidents from the berries.

I’m with Jenn on this one. Dry, I could not wait to try it. I made a pot and chilled it overnight. This morning, all I taste is sage with a hint of hibiscus. Bully is a good word for it. Maybe if I add a bit of sweetener…

Thank you so much for sending out the free samples, Tea Forte and for including Canada! Your generosity alone has made want to support your company…just not these teas. Oh well! I’m sure I can find something that catches my eye. ;)

Edit: The sweetener helped, and now I’m getting big juicy blueberry with a background of sage. Bumping this up a bit. Still too much sage for me, though.

Interesting combination of herbs in this infusion. I shared it with my mother who is a big fan of Celestial Seasonings Blueberry Tea, and enjoyed it as a nice afternoon break. We both felt a slight tingling on the tongue, which seems to be a property of the sage in the mix. It has a beautiful aroma and color, and a sweet herbaceous flavor. I was surprised at the beauty the dry cornflowers brings to the dry product, and we both agreed it would go great with some real shortbread cookies… Thanks Tea Forte for this nice sample, and I definitely give this one a thumbs up.