Fruit Medley

Tea #8 from the ’Here’s Hoping’ teabox.

Last tea before bed. I have to say that today has been a highly enjoyable tea day. After having so much caffeine I knew my last tea would have to be an herbal. Otherwise I would never get to sleep tonight!

I was hesitant to make this tea because I’m not a hibiscus fan, but I loved the idea of all the different fruits so much that I brewed a cup anyway. I timed it carefully it wouldn’t be too tart, and I added a little bit of sugar. The result was a fruity concoction that almost tasted like the juice from a jumble berry pie. Very fruity, and while there is a touch of tartness it’s nothing overwhelming. This was a perfect way to wind down and get ready to sleep.

I’m sure I’m going to dream about tea tonight, but at least they’ll be happy dreams!

Trying this with more of the fruit mixture to see how it compares with last night’s endeavor.

As expected, the liquor is a darker red. But it doesn’t approach the magenta of most hibiscus blends I’ve tried.

It’s tastier with more of the mixture, but the overall tenor of the flavor is pretty much the same. The berry keeps the mix from being too tart, and the hibiscus isn’t strong. It’s really not at all bad.

Though I’d drink it again, it’s not going to be on the top of my order list. I’m just more into true teas these days, I guess. There are a few fruit mixtures that I’ll probably keep in stock, but others will likely be a somewhat impulsive occasional buy. I’d guess that would be true of this one.

I drank this tea last night as my caffeine free herbal. Hibiscus is the dominant flavor here – but I am on of the few here on steepster that are okay with that flavor. I like this alright – but likely will not re-purchase. I am still looking for the perfect fruit based herbal infusion for the evenings.

Thanks for including this one in our trade, Starfevre! I was hoping there wouldn’t be so much hibiscus in this one. I steeped it for 10 minutes (which I know makes the hibiscus taste even more tart, but otherwise I wouldn’t get any flavor at all.) Yeah, it was pretty tart and sour. There was a piece of strawberry I saw in the infuser, and there were hints of that, but the hibiscus just drowns everything else out. Gah, hibiscus. I’ll try taking some of it out of the infuser before I steep it next time. ALL of it doesn’t need to be in here, Adagio!

This is taking away the bitter, yucky taste from the bizarre stuff I just tried. Nice to have some sweet hot koolaid.

If you don’t like koolaid, you won’t like this.

so this is one of the maybe 2 or 3 herbals i have. it reminds me of juice and i actually drink this unsweetened as it doesnt need it. its a nice tart flavor and very sweet. you can taste the berries. the tea itself is a really pretty redish pink. the scent smells like hot fruit punch lol. i love all the fruit pieces in the tea itself too. i think my fiancee made this for me because u cant mess it up, and he burned my tangerine white by adding boiling water and it turned out bitter.

Opening this packet was a pleasant surprise. I was immediately greeted by the strong scent of dried fruit, and the sight of the pieces, which are larger that I was reasonably expecting. I can clearly pick out orange peel, pieces of strawberry, cherry and apple, and rosehips. There’s also something that looks suspicuously like a whole hibiscus flower. I’m not the greatest fan of hibiscus, but you’ve got to admit that the quality’s there. This is definetly an improvement on some brands I could mention. The smell is very tart, but I was expecting that. It’s something I can even enjoy in a fruit tea, from time to time, provided it’s not overwhelming.

Reassuringly, this tea takes a while to colour, and doesn’t turn instantly red as heavily hibiscused fruit teas tend to. To taste, it is, of course, tart. I find I can identify some of the fruit flavours, though, which is a definite point in its flavour. The strawberry is quite prominent, giving it a sweetly delicate, summery flavour. This isn’t at all the cloying, deep red drink I was expecting given my experiences so far, and I’, very pleasantly surprised. There’s also a slight tang from the apple, which cuts through some of the natural fruit sweetness, and provides an interesting counterpoint to the red fruit flavours.

All in all, I’m really impressed with this. Far more so than I was with Adagio’s Berry Blues. I’m still holding on to the hope that one day I will find a red fruit or berry tea which doesn’t include hibiscus at all, but until that day this is perfectly palatable. A hit, rather than the miss I was dreading!

Tastes exactly like Kool-Aid.

I think I may not be a hibiscus girl. The tea smells amazing, and the light reddish tan liquor is beautiful, but the flavor just isn’t my favorite. It’s definitely better than most of the other teas I’ve tried today. (It’s been a banner day – a work friend gave me three Tazo teas I’d never tried, and an Adagio sampler pack showed up today).

I think I have to say I liked this, and I’ll enjoy drinking the rest of the sample, but I don’t know that I’d buy more of it.

A pleasant break from caffeine.