Purple Rain

I got this one on a whim some time ago because I had tried a few violet teas and loved them. Sadly, that was not the case with this tea. The black tea in the base just had a really bitter taste, which was made even worse by all the hibiscus. Now, I’m probably the biggest hibiscus fan on this website, finding it tart, tangy, and pleasant, and I can happily drink plain hibiscus steeped in water without sweetener, but the combination of it with this black tea was just awful! The whole thing was just overly bitter and drying, with a floral violet note that fails to add anything because that florality really needs some sweetness.

After one awful warm cup I switched to iced tea, thinking that might smooth things out since I find iced hibiscus teas extremely refreshing. It was… an improvement over the hot cup, but still too bitter to be “refreshing”. For the last few pitchers to use up the leaf I started adding liquid sugar syrup to the iced tea, which at least helped the violet notes and did smooth out some of the bitterness, but it still had a biting aftertaste.

Glad this one is sipped down. Not one I’d have any interest in revisiting again.

I’ve been putting off tasting this for the last 6 months because I was worried I would love it and I wouldn’t be able to get it again. Tea logic. I saw it was available on the Bird and Blend VIP website again, so finally decided to brew up a cup. Yeesh! Thankfully I have August Uncommon’s Black Metallic as a lovely violet tea to indulge in, because this is not what I was hoping for. It’s just straight hibiscus with a whisper of violet. Not sure why the hibiscus was necessary in this blend, but it kind of ruined it for me.

Cold Brew!

It’s not that I’m anti-hibiscus in general, but I do dislike when it gets thoughtless tossed into tea blends (usually for colour) where it doesn’t make sense and takes over the flavours. ‘Cause while hibby does add a beautiful colour, that comes with a very distinct tartness! That’s been my main issue with this blend – the hibiscus is too tart/sour for the delicate violet notes that are so beautiful…

Cold brewing made a big difference in terms of flavour; the cold water extracted much less acidity and sharpness from the hibiscus and so while it was still a present element of the flavour I got to taste a lot more of the violet in the infusion and it was softer/smoother overall. I wouldn’t say it was INCREDIBLE prepared this way, but it was definitely good and I think I’ll have to really keep that in mind going through the rest of this tea…