It’s heeeeerrreee!
This past year I purchased one of Anne’s “Create a Blend” fundraiser perks and I pretty promptly sent her what felt like a million different flavour ideas. They all had one common thread, though. I really wanted a rhubarb tea. I think rhubarb is such an underrated fruit (technically vegetable), especially when it comes to tea blends. You rarely see it used outside of strawberry rhubarb teas, and even those aren’t exactly all too common…
I gave Anne a ton of ideas ranging everywhere from rhubarb and vanilla ice cream to just a straight up smoked rhubarb. What I didn’t realize at the time was that Anne hadn’t ever worked with rhubarb before – so it ended up being a bit of a longer and more experimental process (not that I minded one bit). She even sourced some candied rhubarb just for the blend, and dang it looks cool! Ultimately I had all the faith in the world and was really just excited to be along for the ride.
I’m really, really happy with the final tea though! It’s got that perfect jammy cooked rhubarb note with a hint of tartness that I was hoping for and the subtle additions of cinnamon and Lapsang Souchong (just a smidge) give it that cozy baked pie sort of vibe that was in a lot of the ideas I’d sent. Like a rhubarb pie if you juuusssttt slightly burnt the crust. I happen to love that smokey edge though. It feels very tailored to my own personal tastes.
I’ve already seen that Anne’s used the rhubarb flavouring it at least one other blend, so I’m happy to have unintentionally snuck this flavouring into the 52Teas repertoire. If I may be so bold as to suggest another rhubarb concept, I’ve always adored the more British influenced “Rhubard & Custard” rooibos blends I’ve tried but I’d really like to see the same concept on a caffeinated tea base.
Anyway – the tldr is that I am a happy customer!
PS. The name for the blend comes from the 1989 Batman movie where it’s said by The Joker. It basically means something along the lines of “Don’t mess with my girl”. I just thought it was a fun, nerdy reference though.
so, so, so, sooooo happy that you like it! I really enjoyed this blend – so much more than I thought I would.