So I believe the intention here was to create something similar to the limited edition Unicorn Dreams blend from DT that came out over the summer – but I’ve actually noticed a ton of companies this year who’ve come out with different unicorn blends (like The Necessiteas’ Unicorn Fluff) all around the same time span – so I’ve going to give TK the benefit of the doubt here and assume that we were all just kind of alligned with the same trend/inspiration – which totally does happen.
Plus, when you see bunched up blends from different companies of the same profile coming out in close succession, like what happened this summer with the unicorn blends, it’s actually VERY hard to say who “did it first”. Sometimes people see the same trend in the market at the same time, but also the time span of “concept to steeped cup” can span from months to years. You honestly never really know.
In the case of T Kettle, as a whole, the span/pattern of repetition is too great for that to be the case of their whole assortment – but I’m giving them the credit here for this one…
I actually like the visual of this blend better than Unicorn Dreams anyway – I think it’s cleaner/less chaotic looking than DT’s which has a lot going on. Never really a fan of sprinkles in tea but, and I believe I’ve said this in a Unicorn Dreams tasting note too, with something like a “Unicorn” inspiration I’m more willing to get on board with them. T Kettle uses these super big/round ones with the shimmer in a bunch of blends in different colours – they look a bit like mini gumballs in this blend to me. I was curious about them because I wasn’t sure if they were croquants, which are a sprinkle with a soft & crunchy interior and either a thin candy shell or chocolate exterior. They are not croquants – instead they’re a compressed powder candy, similar to Sweet Tarts/Gobstopper centers.
The taste of this blend was underwhelming for me. I feel like with a “Unicorn” inspired tea you soft of get a license to go really crazy in whatever flavour direction you want. Instead, this was very soft/mildly flavoured with a delicate/thin strawberry note and a tiny pinch of hibiscus – mostly just enough to leave the steeped tea a pale pink colour. There was nothing unpleasant about the taste, but I just wanted a lot more of it.