The Dark Tickle

Let me just start out by saying how refreshing it is to try an “apple” flavored tea WITHOUT cinnamon as an additive. Thank you! It’s nice! Spread the word to other tea companies.

This tea is a very mellow and smooth black tea with just a smidge of apple behind it. Apple is not the main focus, but it is harmoniously playing in the background. It’s there when you want it to be there. I’m also getting that bake-y taste.

The sample I received in my teaswap was in bagged form. For my 1st cup, I removed the bag after about 5 minutes. I tried to resteep, but ended up with faintly apple-flavored hot water. For my 3rd cup, I used another teabag and left it in until I finished my cup. No bitterness…just a little more apple…or bakeapple. YUM! I added just a faint sprinkling of Splenda and it was wonderful. I bet it would be lovely iced. It’s light and thirst-quenching.

Daaaaark Tickle! shivers

Edit: OK, so there’s no actual apple in this. WTF am I tasting?…the word apple? LOL! I’ll stand by it though. I tasted a dry/tart (Granny Smith apple) kind of taste.

I’ve tried this company’s Blueberry Tea in the past (and liked it!), so I was curious to sample this blend. It’s a Ceylon tea, so not a lot of room to move, flavour-wise. I tried it with and without milk; the addition of milk softens the flavour, but doesn’t significantly alter it.

This would be a good one to try if you enjoy pomegranate or cranberry teas, as the flavour is similarly tart. What is pleasant about Partridgeberry is that there’s a sort of… musty quality to it, which was enhanced by the fact that I got distracted and let it steep for a while. Very cozy, and more soothing than the aforementioned teas. I also enjoy the freshly-picked quality to the fragrance.

Another Jillian Tea…YAY! YAY! LOVE the name of this company! Altho…and you are going to laugh…when I first looked at it I thought it said Dork Tickle! LOL – either way …LOVE it!

As for the tea it doesn’t have much smell or flavoring in the actual tea taste. It’s not bad but it’s not very strong and I over steeped. The reddish black tea color was cool – I would try this again because it wasn’t bad just not very strong…

Something sinister is stirring in the shadows, stretching out its hands to ensnare you. It’s…it’s…

THE RETURN OF THE DARK TICKLE!
*is shot * XD

I made a mug of this forgetting that we’re all out of milk. This is a tea that needs something added to it to keep the ceylon base from being too astringent so I stirred in some honey instead. It improved the taste, but I still prefer milk – the milk really brings out the wonderful, sweet creaminess of the tea.

This tea so wonderfully improved by adding milk so I’m going to up the rating a little bit. I’m noticing a distinct raspberry-ish aftertaste when I take a sip and the creamyness of the tea really works well with the milk.

Now if this tea were actually loose leaf then I could really get behind it. (God, that sounds so dirt!) XD

I didn’t notice before how strong the smell of this tea is while it’s steeping. The scent is a bit like that taste only more floral maybe. Floral raspberries? I’m not sure how to describe it. I guess ‘like bakeapple’ is probably the best, though I’ve never actually eaten one (they’re an east coast berry species).

Yes, it’s the return of the Dark Tickle, Mwahahaha! I tried it with skim milk this time and what an amazing improvement it made! The berry flavour isn’t hughly strong, but it’s definitely threre. It’s not what I’d think of as the traditional tart berry flavour; this is sweeter, and almost floral in fact, and it has a creamy note brought out by the milk. This is how I’ll be drinking this tea for now on.

Daaaark Tiiiickle! Daaaaaaaaaarrrrrk Tiiiiiiiiiccccckle! ;P

First of all the name of this company weirds me out just a touch as it sounds more than just a little dirty – like you’re being molested in a dark room or something…. 0_o

It’s worth mentioning that bakeapple isn’t an apple at all but a type of wild berry related to a raspberry. I orginally thought that this was a loose-leaf tea, but when I got it I was disappointed to see that it’s actually a set of tea bags filled with fine tea dust (Boo!).

The taste started out lightly fruity and berry-like, but then WHAM the bitterness hits at the back of the mouth. I’m all for buying stuff from small, local companies but I wasn’t terribly impressed with this.