Jamestown Special Teas
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I kept glancing at the bag of this tea and reading “Jonestown Special” as the name of the tea. Yikes!
This tea started out being really sweet when warm. Sweet and fruity. But as it cools it starts to taste more like a Flinstone’s children’s vitamin. There is that artificial fruity taste followed by the vitamin aftertaste. Does this have Stevia in it?! I don’t like it. At all. :(
Preparation
This sample came thanks to BrewTEAlly Sweet and is really pushing me right outside of my safe zone.
I cannot possibly be the only one who thinks hibiscus always tastes musty, right? Like, there’s always a residual earthyness after the sip that makes me think of a house that needs a dehumidifier. I guess it’s also kind of metallic. My mouth isn’t really to keen on it.
Unfortunately, this is the same to me. It’s also about a 6.8 on my tart scale, and that’s way too high for me. It’s not enough to dump it out, but I’m definitely scrunching up my face after each sip. This might have a fighting chance in my mouth cold steeped with sugar.
I’m going to withhold a numerical rating on this one, as I know it’s probably my preferences and not the tea in this instance.
Thanks for the chance to try this BrewTEAlly Sweet but hibby and I will just keep not getting along for now.
Preparation
I don’t mind a little hibiscus, like a pinch, in a tea blend, but by itself it’s too much. Somewhere I read that the proper way to drink hibiscus, also called Jamaica, is to steep the tea, let it cool while you make a simple syrup, sweeten to taste, & pour over ice with slices of orange and/or lime as garnish. I’ve never tried it that way, cuz I can’t handle the sugar.
I don’t mind a little, when it’s well disguised and all. But straight hibiscus, or something that’s really hibby heavy? No way. I’m curious to try that version with sugar over fruit though, but fear the amount of sugar it might need so I don’t hate it.
There’s lots of recipes online. One of my sons just bought himself a ‘soda stream’. I might suggest this to him as a blend to use for soda, instead of buying their disgusting artifial flavored mixes.
I brewed the last on my sample of hibiscus from BrewTEAlly Sweet with a teaspoon of rock sugar and put it in the fridge to chill before dinner. I have never been a fan of iced teas, but cold hibiscus, lightly sweetened, pretty good. I stopped drinking juice with my meals long ago because I hated the concept of drinking calories. I’d rather anything with significant calories spend some decent time in my mouth before it does it’s damage, haha (I do actually drink half a cup of juice before the gym sometimes, when I am in a hurry in the morning and need something to keep the blood sugars in check. . .but I digress). Iced hibiscus could be just the thing I need when I want something besides water with dinner :)
Hibiscus. I’ve heard more scary stories about this stuff than about Lapsang Souchong (and let me tell you, that stuff is nasty). A tea I would have never considered getting for myself, but thank goodness for these mystery swaps that prevent me from getting to comfortable in my safe zone. I originally got some Hibiscus from cheetah_pita, but I somehow managed to lose that one. This one is from BrewTEAlly Sweet and I got around to brewing it before it could be lost.
Here it goes, brewing up this notorious tea:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h353/flightysprite/Tea/hibiscusbrewing_zps94e9927d.jpg
Cup of scary hibiscus, even Cassie is wary:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h353/flightysprite/Tea/CassieHibiscus_zpsa649bf42.jpg
And what do you know, all that scare for nothing. Tastes like cranberry juice, more or less. Nothing wrong with a little tart fruit once in a while! Even my husband loves it. He says it’s a ‘98’ (he won’t ever give a 100 for some ocd reason). I don’t quite love it that much, but I’ll be keeping some in stock from now on.
Thanks BrewTEAlly Sweet!
Preparation
I have a TON of this if you ever want to swap :)
Your puppy is so darling!
@BrewTEAlly Sweet: yeah, of course. I don’t have much to swap with at the moment (unless you want 2oz of Mango Tango that Im trying to get rid of), but I’ll let you know in a week or two.
@moraiwe: yes, the sweetest face of my 4 dogs and the most trouble! My other three are lazy lap dogs and she is a hyper cutie. She’s all covered in mud today (again) from running like a tornado through all the puddles that the sprinkler left behind. Good thing she has that cute face!! (^o^)
This tea is quite alright. Smells good, tastes good. I like the plum notes. My favorite so far from BrewTEAlly Sweet
ETA: I had another cup of this one this morning and it tasted artificially sweet. I didn’t notice this the first time. Maybe this is because I was sampling two other teas at the same time and my taste was compromised. Oh well. Better this way anyway as I can’t order this one online.
