Strawberry Coriander Infusion

Another tea from yesterday, also sent to me via kaylee (who appears to have gotten it from adagio breeze). I really like this tea! I just wish that the coriander was a more present flavour in the actual brew. There’s a hint of the coriander, but mostly this is a lovely strawberry brew. I suspect that cold, it would be even better. My only complaint is the lack of a distinct coriander note running through it, so dropping the rating a few points because of that. Thanks again kaylee!

Thank you to Adagio Breeze for the chance to try this one!

Unfortunately, I can’t find the online listing for this infusion anymore (no longer of the F&M site), so I’m kind of winging it here in trying to figure out what’s in it. Surprisingly, the coriander seems to be a minor component. There’s lots of “stuff” in this mix that I can’t ID — something that looks like cinnamon maybe? I’ll try to remember to take a close-up photo after work.

Steeped, the smell is pretty mild. Mostly just…generically sweet smelling. Color of the liquor is dark red, like a glass of Cabernet. It tastes sweet. Really sweet – and, sadly, artificially so. Not tasting anything that I can pick out as the clean, citrusy taste of coriander seeds, but I wonder if it’s just because my taste buds are too overwhelmed by sweetness to detect other notes.
As it cools, I’m tasting something tart that tastes suspiciously like hibiscus. Blech.

Decided to use the steeping parameters recommended by DavidsTea for their coriander tisane, and went with a long steep at 208 F.

ETA: Dug through the dry infusion, and I’m now 98.6% sure there’s hibiscus in there. Or else something that both tastes and looks an awful lot like it!

Thanks to adagio breeze for bringing this tea to the States all the way from Britain!

The dry tea smell like strawberry and hibiscus. There’s a lot of stuff in the mix – I’m seeing coriander seeds, what looks like small bits of dried strawberry, dried citrus peel, what looks like dried peach (I tasted this after brewing and it tasted peachy), and a few other ingredients I can’t identify.

As Lindsey pointed out, there’s no online description or brewing instructions, so I had to wing it. I used ½ teaspoon for 4 oz, brewing it for 3 minutes in water that had cooled slightly after boiling. The liquid is a deep reddish-pink. The flavor is all hibiscus and strawberry. There may be a touch of tartness mid-sip, but that could be wishful thinking. There is a slight but not overwhelming aftertaste of strawberry candy.

Overall, this is just ok. I think it would be nice as an iced tea – probably sweet and juicy. Too bad I’m not a huge fan of iced tea!