Blueberry Limón

I made this yesterday and didn’t seem to get much other than a smokey black base. Caleb from Handmade Tea commented on my post to try it as a longer steep, lower temp and with honey.

So I thought I would give it a go. Except I don’t have any honey. It was one of those things where you use the last of the honey and think oh, I have to get more of this when I do groceries. Then you forget about it until you go to get the honey and it is not in the cupboard.

So I tried the first cup with some brown rock sugar. It definitely sweetened it up a bit and tasted better, but I still really only got sweet, lightly smokey, black base.

The second cup I added real maple syrup. Now it is pretty much a given that I will like this because I am Canadian and liking maple syrup is part of my genetic make up. This did taste much better. It brought out the blueberry flavour. Tasted like smokey blueberry compote. But I was only getting very little lemon flavour.

This is definitely promising. I will have to pick up some honey and continue experimenting with sweetening the tea. But definitely lower temps and sweetener is key.

Tea #49 from HHTTB2

Visually, there’s a lot going on in the dry blend. Big, plump blueberries and chunks of lemon rind . And quite a bit of both. I don’t really smell the smoke in the blend, but that could be a product of it’s travels in a giant cardboard box. Who knows. What I do smell is lemon/citrus.

Once I brewed this up? Oh. There’s the smoke.

It’s not like lapsang smoke, where’s it’s like getting thwumped with a burning log. (Or the whole fire dempending on the Lapsang, I suppose). But it’s definitely got some Keemun-esque smoke going on here. It pretty much overpowers all the other elements in the cup.

With sugar added in, I get something that reminds me of a lemon rubbed charred chicken breast. Better, but still not terribly good. I taste a slight blueberriness in the back of the sip. So now I have charred lemon chicken with blueberry compote. Not exactly what I was hoping for.

And back into the giant cardboard box it goes.

Thanks, Nicole_Martin for this tea. This is pretty darn smoky! I drank the first half of the cup unsweetened and smoke was all I got. After reading Lala’s recent note, I added honey to the second half and the lemon flavor really popped! I may be getting a little blueberry in the background, but I may be imagining it just because I’m trying so hard to detect it. I don’t usually like smoky teas, but this one isn’t so bad.

Tea #26 from the Here’s Hoping TTB
I made this last night and fell asleep before I could drink it. I wish I would have read the description before I made it, because it sure gave me a surprise when I reached for it this morning. I wasn’t expecting to start my day with such a lapsangesque tea. One thing that I have been sure of for quite some time is that I will likely never enjoy keemun or lapsang souchong, I just don’t enjoy even the slightest hint of smoke in my tea.

With this blend I think the smoke actually covers up most of the flavor, I’m not tasting any blueberry and barely a hint of lemon. This tea is going straight back in the box, hopefully someone else can appreciate it a bit more than I can.

This is another sample courtesy of Nicole_Martin. The base strikes me as very smoky; I’d thought it might even involve some Lapsang Souchong but evidently not. The tea is quite savory, and quite lemony – I’m reminded of lemon-pepper seasoning (in a good way, promise!). The lemon adds a pleasant tartness to the mix. I couldn’t taste the blueberry at all, although the whole dried berries certainly added some visual interest to the blend.

No. Just no. I really disliked this tea the first time because it’s so smoky. This time around, I took the advice of other reviewers and added honey and lemon. I ended up way overcompensating in my efforts. And whatever I can taste of the base tea is not pleasant. Plus it’s making my stomach hurt, as black teas are wont to do. So the only good thing I have to say about this tea is that I can call this a sipdown.

I got this at the Taste of France swap. My best guess is that it’s from Fuzzy_Peachkin. Thanks!

Tea #3 for Traveling Tea Box C

I brewed this one up quickly this morning to drink while studying. I definitely agree with others that there seems to be some smokiness in the base. I also couldn’t get much blueberry in this one

Added bit of honey to this and the fruity flavors shine a bit brighter. There is a base of smoke which is interesting with the fruit. The lemon is definitely there but the blueberry just adds a juicy/sweetness touch to it. It’s an ok blend. I’ll have to try it iced or cold brewed!

HHTTB #6/18

I was hoping for a fruity, citrusy tea. It smelled pretty nice, but in taste this tea didn’t deliver. I didn’t get any berry fruityness and I only got a hint of lemon. This was tar like for me. I read a few reviews after drinking a cup and it must be the keenum? That might be a bit of a harsh statement. This tea looks like it has been around the block a bit, so maybe it took on some weird taste from the TTB, but this one is not for me.

From the Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #2

I was expecting blueberry lemon. I got smokey lemon. At first I thought the tea had been contaminated from sitting in the tea box, but after reading other reviews it looks like the Keemun base of this tea is over ridding most of the fruit flavors. After I accepted that there wasn’t going to be a lot of blueberry action going on in my cup I was able to enjoy this tea for what it was. I do wish I had a lemon to squeeze into my cup, but I settled for a bit of sugar instead.