Cherry Cosmo

I don’t think I can rate this one, being pretty firmly anti-cherry flavouring. I cold-brewed it, and not for very long. On one hand, I was surprised that I found it quite drinkable (I don’t like cherry flavours) and refreshing. On the other, it tasted pretty artificial and I don’t think I’d make it again. I can’t imagine it hot because this was already pretty strong.

One singe steep packet prepared cold brewed for 20 hours, in 12 oz. of water.

The smell of the dried leaf reminded me of a cherry soda, really. It smelled carbonated. But there wasn’t anything medicinal or alcoholic (yay!) so I was cautiously optimistic as I left it to steep in the fridge.

Once steeped the scent of the liquor was much the same – fizzy cherry-ish. The color of the tea was pretty much dead on for cranberry juice or cherry juice – it was that vibrant and red – so pretty!

Unsweetened this is mouth-puckeringly (and undrinkable, to me) TART. The hibiscus and cherry are no doubt to blame for this – in fact, it tastes like cherry juice that has had all of its sweetness extracted. It is very drying on the tongue and needs a bunch of simple syrup to be palatable, but once it is, it is tasty. More like juice than tea, but tasty.

Well, this whole experience started out quite nice – I really enjoyed the smell of the dry tea – fruity with an intriguing hint of booze (vodka?) to it. Too bad that all got drowned out by the hibiscus. I suppose I’m biased but I can’t bring myself to enjoy a tea this sour, particularly since none of the flavours of the other ingredients in the tisane manage to rise to conteract it. I think there wouldn’t be a whole lot of difference tastewise between drinking this and drink straight hisbscus.

Ah well, at least it’s good for me (supposedly).

Okay. So this started off being my least favorite, and became my favorite (so far) of the sample pack.

Dry, the leaves smelled to me like paint thinner. Hooray!

The first sip tasted really tart, thank you hibiscus, but as I kept drinking it got addictive and super yummy. Then I placed it – it tastes like Cherry Coke or Balck Cherry soda! Not as deep at Black cherry, but that flavour is def reminiscent of it. Yum!

So yeah I am pretty impressed with this tea now. The hibiscus was there because I wanted to be disappointed in this tea I think. That sounds strange, but there you go. As I kept drinking, the cherry flavor over powered it.

If I make an on-line order, I will pick up some of this.
Maybe it will inspire me to get the courage to try david’s Cherry Potion. But I doubt it.

Thanks again Tea Forte!

I’ll admit the ingredients made me nervous because many of them I do not favor…but…it was Cherry-Fruity but not as tart as I thought it would be…there was a nice yet unexpected smoothness towards the end of the sip, too. I’m glad this wasn’t as puckery as I thought it would be. There is still a lot of punch there but it’s pretty good for a hibiscusy tisane!

Spending New Years Eve with a pot of this since I have to work tomorrow morning so I can’t go out (well, I could but I would suffer the consequences).

I love cherries but this was not for me. This comes off as sour hibiscus to me and I think it’d be alright iced. I’m not a big fan of iced teas though so I don’t think I’ll be giving it a go. It gets much more tolerable as I drink it though.

Steep time: 5 mins. Added agave.
Rating: 30. Not or me.

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 weeks 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, fresh smell (a little like amaretto to me).

Brewing guidelines: (package states 12 oz. I used closer to 16 oz.) Two steepings: 1st: boiling, 3mins. 2nd: boiling, 5 mins. (about 20-30 minutes later). Small amount of Stevia added. Basket strainer inside ceramic 16 oz. cup.

Aroma: smelled a little like canned cherries.

Color of liquor: 1st: Beautiful, deep red color. 2nd: a little darker.

Wet leaf: smelled a little like cherries.

Flavor: 1st steeping: OK. A little too strong on the cherry flavor? 2nd: Not as tasty as 1st, has a kind of ‘off’ flavor to it, almost stale, and even a little — I’m sure how to describe it, but I believe the correct word here is — tart, since I am experiencing some dryness in my mouth.

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

Overall: Awesome start, disappointing finish. I love everything about the tea but the taste: as to that we both felt it fell short. I didn’t feel a need to finish the first steeping, let alone the second (my wife didn’t even want to try it). Unfortunately, we would not buy this tea. :(

I was really disappointed here as we just got a pint of Luna & Larry’s Cherry Amaretto coconut ice cream just to pair with this. I can summarize it as cough syrup poured over an other wise decent, if overly tart, ingredients list. May re-make this one with just real cherries in it?

I’d call it a bitter, hot, cherry coke. The smell reminded me of a stale cocktail. I’m thankful for the sample but this is a big nuh-uh from me. I think I can bring myself to finish the cup, but I really can’t wait to brew something else to wash my mouth out…

I will also preface my review with saying that I can understand why many tea aficionados wouldn’t like this tea. As previously stated, it’s not very “tea-ish!” I also like fruity teas (when I’m not sipping a nice, traditional black). I love this one and it’s currently in my Tea Forte shopping cart.

I’ve had it at least twice – most recently yesterday. All have been in the silk pyramid infusers (not the traditional loose variety, though with Tea Forte, I’m not sure there’s a huge difference). Used boiling water and steeped for approximately 5 minutes. My most recent cup was blended with a 1:2 ratio (by liquid volume) of English Breakfast (also Tea Forte).

I’m still very much a tea novice, so I’ll skip the reviews of the aroma and whatnot, but will comment about the color – it’s gorgeous! It seemed a shame to pour it into my metal thermos.

It is no doubt extremely tart, but I take all my tea with an obscene amount of sugar, so that isn’t a problem for me. It does NOT taste like cough syrup to me, nor do I get any of the vodka taste that some people have mentioned. My immediate reaction both times was that it tastes like a Sweet Tart. It mellows as it cools (and I prefer my tea on the cool side, anyway) – I think it would be fantastic iced.

Next time I’m going to reverse the ratio of black to cherry (two portions black; one portion cherry). I think that might be a very nice blend!