My last one to try from the National Parks collection! This is a blackberry black tea with a bit of lapsang in the mix for smokiness.
If I’m being honest, I knew immediately from the smell that I wasn’t going to enjoy this tea. The blackberry flavoring definitely has that chalky quality to it that always reminds me of berry-flavored Tums. I don’t know if other people ever have that impression or if it’s just a weird association I have, but it’s fairly common for me with berry flavoring.
Anyway! The blackberry is the strongest flavor here, and it does taste rather candy/artificial to me with some chalkiness. Almost like Smarties maybe, but less sweet? The smoke is extremely subtle, too subtle in my opinion. I’m not sure I would notice it if I didn’t know it was there. There’s just a hint of campfire smoke and dark wood behind the blackberry. A tiny bit of tartness pops up in the aftertaste, perhaps from the freeze-dried berries.
While I like the concept of this one a lot, it falls short for me because of the very candy-like blackberry and the almost imperceptible lapsang smokiness. Certainly not a favorite from this collection.
I think I’ll hold off on a rating because I feel like I have an abnormal reaction to a lot of berry flavors…
Flavors: Artificial, Berry, Blackberry, Candy, Chalky, Smoke, Smooth, Sweet, Tart, Wood
Aw, it IS a great concept
I know, I was excited for it! Ah well… Maybe someone else would love it.