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I’m not really a fruit-tea lover. They mostly taste a bit too chemical for my taste. I must admit I got a bit suspicious when I read the label: “Black tea with fruit and caramel”, but I got my hopes up anyway because hey, it’s Harney & Sons tea. This one also seems one of the best-sellers, so I had very high expectations.

The caramel/vanilla tone certainly adds a little smoothness and disposes of the cheap-ass-fruit tea flavor, but this remains a very boring, bland tea. I was hoping to get more out of the caramel.

Best fruit tea I had in a long while, but it stays a fruit tea. No favourite.

For people longing for a tea with an adventurous taste, I would recommend the Bangkok tea from Harney&Sons instead.

A spin-off from Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice. The taste is a bit more flat than its expensive counterpart. It’s got a bit of a chemical aftertaste, but if you steep it quite long, you will find yourself enjoying that savannah-like warmth we only find in cinnamon.

A light, fresh tea. The aftertaste is kind of minty, although according to the list of ingredients, the tea doesn’t contains anything beside green tea and jasmine. I brewed this by accident in lukewarm water, but the taste was nevertheless quite enjoyable.

This tea will very quickly become too dark and bitter. It has a full flavour, even with short steeping times. Every piramid bag makes two cups. Don’t steep too long for the best taste.

Perfect afternoon tea to enjoy with cakes of any kind. It’s is nice and balanced, not overly flavoured or sweet. Earlier I tasted the Harney & Sons Darjeeling blend, and this one is almost as light and flowery.
Beware of the steeping time, though: this tea is lighter of colour than ‘normal’ darjeeling, as the percentage of flowers is relatively high. If the tea has turned dark, you have probably let the tea steep for too long. If you do this, the tea might become bitter.
In the upcoming weeks I will try out other darjeeling blends from Simon Levelt.