Hello again Steepster, I am back! I do lurk here and there at times, but I am not as actively reviewing teas these days. My mind is occupied with figuring out my life direction for the next little while (either finding a new job or moving somewhere new. Big plans!). I did, however, recently receive a new box from Tea Sparrow. How exciting! I missed having new teas to try, and so I decided to reactivate my account for two months – February and March. This is one of the February teas I received last week.
I was looking forward to trying this one just based on the description on the packet. It is described as a quality Chinese black tea mixed with black currant and other fruity flavours – including mango and bergamot! The dry leaf smells really quite delicious. Once brewed, it turns into a nice light coloured amber and the fruit aroma mellows out.
The flavour profile is not quite what I was expecting. The fruityness doesn’t fully translate and I feel like a lot (read: most) of it is lost. Thankfully the black tea base is light and smooth, so even with the loss of intensity of the other flavours, the tea is still enjoyable to drink. Instead of the citrusy tang I expect, it turns rather sweet in the background. Perhaps it is the mango and coconut bringing that out. It’s just a little disappointing that the fruityness is only really present in the aroma of the dry leaf. I would have loved to see more of that in the actual flavour profile of the tea, which makes the experience a little disappointing. It is a quality black tea, otherwise.
