Big Apple

I really disliked this tea the first few times I drank it (why keep drinking it, then? Well, I’d already purchased a big bag of it). The apple flavor is very artificial, and there’s a bitter, astringent quality to it that I didn’t like at all.
On the other hand, I recently tried it as iced tea, and wow! It works really well that way. It’s crisp and refreshing, with a very subtle but nice apple flavor. Much better than the hot tea.

I’m not sure if I’ve properly reviewed this one before, but in case I haven’t… here we go! Had this tonight as a friend still had some in her stash. I’m not sure it tastes like what I remember, but I may have had the steep temperature a little too high. >_> In any case, this didn’t taste as apple-y as I thought, and it had some other profile I can’t quite put my finger on. Caramel, perhaps?

As mentioned in my review for David’s Tea Sweet Apple Cider, I had been looking for an apple tea for some time.

Big Apple was the first one I tried. Sadly, I wasn’t at all impressed with the tea. In following the directions with steep time and water temperature I found it bitter. I was rather surprised that they recommended 90C for this tea, considering it’s a white/green hybrid.

I tried it a few more times tweaking both the steep time and temperature but to no avail.

Inspired by David’s Tea Perfect Match tea blends, I have started my own. My first mix was Cotton Candy with Big Apple.

I brewed it as a white tea and recommend not a long steeping time. It tasted most pleasant this way. I would definitely try this blend again.

This is a tisane for the definite sweeter taste bud carrying person.

Books recommended for this tea are: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner, and Perfect Reader by Maggie Pouncey

I should probably steep this one properly next time. We’ll pretend this is part of my protocol for trying a new tea — see how it holds up to boiling water and being forgotten about. It’s a little bit bitter, but the bitterness kinda reminds me of that bitterness you get sometimes in a red delicious peel, so I think it’s okay. I’m not getting any of the caramel/vanilla notes that people have mentioned, so that’s unfortunate.
I’m glad this one has more tea than movie night — it’s a little disappointing to buy a green tea and then have it turn out to be mostly apples. (Hmm, maybe they’d be good mixed together?)
More notes to follow when I steep it properly. Maybe.

Sipdown!

A little bit of a sad sipdown, because I surprisingly liked this one quite a bit, considering I usually despise apple flavoured anything.
But though it’s a bit fake candy tasting on account of whatever flavoring they added, it’s still pretty yum!

Ehhhhhh though I’m getting a definite bitterness tonight. I may have over leafed just to get rid of the rest.

This is also the only non T&C TTB tea I’ve drank today. I’ve got a log of 10 or so entries just waiting to be added to Steepster :)

Bought the perfect match tub of this one and forever nuts. Heaven I tell you!!! Tastes like apple pie, spot on. The toasty and nutty flavour from the nuts and the spice and berries for some tartness, and then the green apple delicate flavour. Definitely going to drink this all.

And to round out my day, I figured I’d go with a tea that is approaching sipdown status…

This one is ok, but I think I oversteeped it a bit. It’s a tad astringent. I have just enough of this left to combine with my remaining stash of Forever Nuts to make apple pie tea. I’ll do that Monday night, probably – double sipdown in the works!

EDIT: My husband, who rarely drinks tea because he thinks most teas taste weak and “watery”, says that he would probably enjoy drinking this tea! As a caveat, he’d probably only drink it if he were sick, but this is progress! One day, with my tea wiles, I will slowly wean him off of diet coke. The only problem is that this tea is being discontinued soon. Bah.

Another green tea I tried over the weekend. This from a mystery stash from several moons ago… thanks Janelle!

I was in the mood for a green as I had already had my black tea of the morning and this one almost literally jumped out at me so I thought I’d give it a go.

Dry it smells of tart green apple. Steeped I get a buttery apple with a slight hint of some kind of cinnamon or spice?? Not sure if I’m tasting spice, but there is something beyond just apple in this cup for me. I think the mix of green and white teas go well here in making a buttery cup w/o being vegetal. I wish I could pick out what I’m tasting besides apple, but otherwise a pretty decent cup.

I think if the apple smell and taste weren’t so artificial, it would be a lovely everyday tea. There needs to be some other flavour or scent to temper the jolly rancher-like apple. I’ll stick with David’s Mango Madness for a white tea.