Blood Orange

Being of the non-hibiscus camp, I wasn’t especially anxious to give this a try; most of the blood orange blends I’ve tried are so tart they make my eyebrows sweat. But I’m trying to sip down the remains of a Tea Forte sampler, so there they were, and I felt honor bound to sample them.

I fridge-steeped two pyramid bags overnight and was very pleasantly surprised. No tartness to speak of—just a pleasant, deep, almost grapefruity citrus peel and pith personality. Surprise!

This is such a bright and fun tea. The black tea keeps it’s warmth but the orange flavor really brightens your mood. I drink this tea as a mid afternoon pick me up for a bit of caffeine and motivation to continue with my work. I pair this tea with light buttered pastries and the natural sweetness and citrus flavor cuts the heavy flavor of my treats.

Coldbrew on this delicious smelling flavoured black tea. It smells like grapefruit and orange.

2.5g leaf, 500 mL cold water, 1 hour
Tastes of musty spices, dried citrus zest, peppery, strong bergamot, lemon/citrus bitters, marmalade. I would have called this spiced earl grey. It’s more bergamot than anything else.

I received a sampler of this from a friend and I actually rather enjoyed it but I can see it getting bitter if steeped for too long. Nice chunks of citrus fruit that shone through in the flavor. Sweetness with just a slight hint of bitter to remind you of the citrus.

Not terribly complicated but pleasant.

Sipdown! Which brings me below 40 for the first time in who knows how long.

This batch tasted more like blood orange than previous cups, which tasted more like a lady grey. This is bad news for me as I’m not really a fan of oranges, and I have a particular dislike of blood orange. It’s also quite dry, which again is not really a good thing for me. Having a very hard time understanding my previous rating of 80; lowering my rating.

This had a real lightness and brightness to it – not what I was expecting from a tea labeled Noir. It almost tasted like a mandarin green tea. It was very good, but not what I was hoping for.

Part of a recent tea flavored black tea sampler that I got from Tea Forte, which has gotten me to pretty much give up on Tea Forte as a company…

Anyway this is one of the better flavors in the bunch. It is very citrusy, with lots of tart orange, grapefruit and lemon myrtle flavor. It even stands up to soymilk okay (I was wondering if it would curdle). It has a slightly musty smell, in my opinion and also a slight bitterness. It does have oil of bergamot, which tends to not be my favorite flavor unfortunately. If you would like a really citrusy earl grey, check this one out. I’ll certainly finish the cup and the other samples, but I don’t think I will need to buy it anytime soon. I would have liked it better without the bergamot, I think.

Another tea from my Advent Calendar. I liked this one. No weird after taste, no bitterness. I drank it while eating cinnamon toast on a cold December day. It was a good experience for me. There was a time when I preferred herbal teas. Now I far prefer black teas.

This was part of a sampler pack of Noir teas by Tea Forte. The aroma of this was very subtle but a true scent, not fake like some orange teas. The flavor was definitely a different kind of orange…the difference between blood orange and navel oranges is distinct. The black tea is dominant in this blend.

Finding a single steeps sampler package from Tea Forte was a nice surprise. Finding the sampler package was of their latest Noir line of pan-roasted black teas was even more surprising. The best surprise was finding a blood orange flavor hidden amongst the other mediocre flavored teas.

From what I can recall, the best blood orange tea I have so far had was from David’s Tea, which was a pu’erh blend. Reminiscing on that blend, I do remember liking it quite a lot, namely for its flavor.

Tea Forte’s blood orange does give quite a powerfully citrus scent, leaning more to pekoe for my liking but not so much to become offensive. The leaves are thankfully generic loose leaf in appearance and color, with the citrus peel and flowers giving a lighter and softer texture.

This is my second time steeping this tea, as my first had given a fairly weak flavor at three minutes, so increasing the steep time with new leaves could yield a better brew.

The brew is a lovely deep copper, with a subtle citrus aroma.

The flavor is a lighter pekoe, more bergamot than citrus. Despite, the citrus that is detected jumps out significantly. Steeping a minute longer does give a more interesting taste. There is a slight astringency, and the black tea does round out the flavor eventually.

It is not quite the best, in fact quite far from it. What it is, in the best circumstances, is a pleasing morning cup.