Black Cherries in Sweet Cream

Wow. This tea is pretty extraordinary, and I’m surprised it doesn’t have a higher rating. The dry aroma is pretty nonexistent for me. However, the flavors are explosive. One cube of raw sugar really set this one over the edge. Rich cherry flavor, combined with luxurious cream. Incredible. I’m currently trying to sip down, but I will be buying 4oz of this one asap.

Sample Sipdown! (26)

Hmm…

I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong here, but this doesn’t seem to have much flavor. I can taste the Darjeeling base, which has its muscatel and astringent thing going on. There’s a little bit of cherry, and it does taste dark and sweet and almost alcoholic, like a bordeaux cherry.

But cream, vanilla? I don’t find any of that.

I don’t know, this just isn’t tasting like a whole lot other than a second flush Darjeeling base with a hint of cherry.

Sad panda…

Sipdown (310)!

I was happy to see this was the freebie sample tossed into my last order because I’ve been on the fence about ordering it with essentially every AQ2T order I’ve ever placed…

My mom and I disagree about the dry leaf aroma of this one: personally, I didn’t really smell the cherry and only picked up on the cream, which reminded me of the smell of heavy whipping cream with more sweetness. My mom instantly went to maraschino cherries…

I steeped this one up in a small teacup since the sample was a very small size; I also ended up resteeping it twice because I struggled to put my finger on exactly how I felt about it just off the first steep alone. Interestingly, the first two infusions tasted identical with ZERO flavour deterioration and the third was only marginally weaker in flavour.

I think that overall this one can be summed up as very accurate to the name, but probably just not the right tea for me personally. The cherry note is REALLY intense though; and it definitely reminds me strongly of black cherries, specifically those really fancy/expensive black cherries that get made into maraschino cherries for fancy/expensive mixed drinks/cocktails in mixology bars. Fuck the bright, firetruck red ones: this is the ‘elegant’ shit. And you know what? If that was all that the cherry tasted like I think I’d be fine with that but it’s a little artificial and that slight artificial quality just opens it up into falling into the trap so much cherry flavoured stuff falls into: it takes on a bit of a medicinal quality.

It’s not overpowering or just blatant, straight up medicinal but it IS there.

Lets talk about the cream though – ‘cause that was the best part for me. I like creamy teas a lot, but anything that’s cream flavoured artificially tends to rub me the wrong way a little bit. I’m just very particular about cream flavoured teas in general, it seems. And in this teas defense, it’s not artificial cream flavour – it’s natural. However, it’s flavourings regardless…

But the cream was great! It reminded me a lot of really heavy whipped cream; the kind of stuff I used to pile on breakfast pancakes/waffles in literal mounds. The good shit. The handwhipped shit – not Cool Whip or spray whipped cream nonsense. I was SO into this flavour element of the tea, and if there was more of it I think the degree to which I liked it would probably outweigh the parts of the cherry flavour that I didn’t like.

I’m really, really glad I tried it though! The curiosity probably would have eventually ate me alive if I hadn’t gotten this one as a sample – but while there are some REALLY good elements to this one, it’s just not for me overall. I can totally see why other people would be all over this one, though! I think the flavours line up perfectly with the name, and that can be a really rare thing to find in a tea…

See my full review on Sororitea Sisters:
http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/06/08/easy-as-pie-black-cherries-and-sweet-cream-from-a-quarter-to-tea/

Anyone who’s been following me knows that I’m a HUGE cherry fan. I’m also a fan of AQ2T. I’ve really enjoyed other cherry flavored teas from them. So…… I was really excited when Indigobloom was kind enough to share some of this one with me. I should love this.

But I don’t….. sigh. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve steeped a few cups tonight – water temps 80-85-90 C – I’ve played with the steep times 2.5 – 3 – 4 minutes. I’ve resteeped leaves – I’ve used fresh leaves. I’ve added sweet, I’ve added milk, I’ve added both. Nope can’t do it. This is really icky. It’s cough syrup – and not just the fake cherry thing, but actually medicinal barely resembling cherry ewwww.

Thank you so much Indigobloom for sharing, I don’t understand why I don’t love this. There are several positive reviews so this is obviously something that just doesn’t work in my world. I may pass on the rest to someone else who will appreciate it. Sad face…..

mmmmm sample from crowkettle this one is quite lovely. thankfully i brewed it at a lower temp than usual for my blacks, as i hadn’t registered it was a darjeeling. I like the cherry flavour this has going on as well as the sweetness from the cream. might need to think about ordering some of this for myself…

This was included as a free sample in my order.

This made a nice cup of fruity dessert tea, and seems like a possible alternative for Vicky’s Spongecake from Bluebird Tea Co; I have a soft spot for that tea. I can taste cherry, raspberry, cream, and frosting. The darjeeling base pokes through a tad, but it isn’t overly memorable or intrusive on first impression.

Sipdown! 19/365

This was a small sample from a recently-placed order. It definitely tastes better a little cooler, as I had it fairly warm and wasn’t even sure that it was the same tea as I didn’t much care for it. Drank the last couple sips cool and there it was – cherries and cream. Delicious. If the flavours hold up during icing, it would be great, but I’m happy drinking this one cool if ever I have it again! Hopefully I will remember.

This tastes like the black cherry flavoring in black cherry soda. I don’t know if I am getting any cream notes but this is cherry and sweet and I am happy.

This gets more astringent as it cools so it is best to finish it off before that happens.

My first cup of this was much tastier. That was in my travel mug. Second was at home. Sugar brought out more cherry this time but not cream. Hmmm. Must try again. Maybe as a latte