So, I though I’d switch up my “at work” breakfast today a little bit (typically, I get hashbrowns and chocolate work from A&W) – mostly because the walk to work was especially cold and I just wanted something to heat me up. So, I opted for tea instead of chocolate milk. It couldn’t hurt, right? All the tea my local A&W serves is Stash brand – and as far as bagged tea goes that’s typically a favourite brand of mine. So, strawberry pomegranate it is!
Dry, the tea bag smelled very much like strawberry kool aid drink mix: sweet and fruity, is a bit artificial (but in the best way – who doens’t love strawberry kool aid?). The was also a nice sort of tang to it, a sharpness if you will. I steeped the bag for five minutes in whatever temp. water it was that A&W had given me. The liquor is a very red brown colour and smells like sharp, tangy strawberries and… oh, what is that?
I’m smelling that signature rooibos smell right now. Hmm… I thought this was a herbal. Time to read the ingredients listed on the teabag now. So, the teabag says “herbal” on the front, but in the back ingredients there IS rooibos listed. I mean, it’s not like I dislike rooibos tea – it’s just not what I had expected for breakfast this morning.
The taste is initially very tart and tangy strawberry – like stawberry kool aid tastes before you dump in that crap load of sugar it needs to get sweet. Then, it gives way pretty quickly to a VERY woody rooibos taste. Considering I’m a fan of rooibos tea in general, I’m not minding the rooibos here but if you’re NOT a rooibos fan you probably really want to stay clear of this one. Finally, the aftertaste is a short lived mellow strawberry. I’m not totally sure where the pomegranate is fitting into this: it’s not really standing out at all.
Overall, this is pretty nice for a bagged tea, but I’m not really loving the “false advertising”. I like rooibos, but this morning I was in the mood for some straight up herbal deliciousness.
