I pulled another tea from the T&C TTB to try out tonight. As I have to wake up early tomorrow, I did not want to risk any caffeine, so I went for one of the watermelon barley sachets. First off, I have to say that I love barley tea. I drink it practically every day from a big pitcher of it in my fridge (yes, I am Korean American). I have never tried any flavored barley teas before, but I usually love how Lupicia flavors their teas, so I was so excited to see this tea in the TTB.
As I was steeping the tea, I got a whiff of a heavy smoky scent from the tea. My regular barley tea does have a bit of smokiness, but not nearly this much. That worried me because it smelled like a tobacco kind of smoky rather than a BBQ/charcoal kind of smoky. It also smelled like candy watermelon. When I tasted the tea, I think it was less smoky than it smelled like it was going to be, but still enough that it was a bit off-putting to me. The candy watermelon flavor only really quietly sneaked in as an aftertaste after the roasted/smoky barley flavor. I wanted to love this tea, but I just couldn’t get over that strong smoky smell. I guess I can’t love all Lupicia’s teas.. On to the next!
