Apricot

Thank you nicole! While i’ve been off of peach/apricot sort of teas for the last little while, I was happy to see this one show up. I tend to like harney’s tea base so i was hopeful on this one. I was right…once again the base blends very nicely with the flavouring and lends itself to a truly delicious cup.

Iced tea of the day…… (SRP #38)

This is the last of my Apricot black tea. It was not a favorite, but it makes a stellar iced tea. It has a nice malty base and a hint of apricot. I know the apricot comes out just a little more with adding something to sweeten it, but that is not the way I roll for iced tea….I like it as is. Refreshing and so welcome on a hot weekend.

Usual iced tea method.

Fiddling was kind enough to send this my way, along with a load of other Harney & Sons samples. Thank you!

This is a backlog from two days ago- I oversteeped this tea twice, but it didn’t bite me for it. It had a pleasant nutty sweet flavour that is a nice alternative to the more common peach black blends. I added milk to the last cup and that was good too.

First of all, I got my FIRST THANKSGIVING CARD today! Thank you, GMathis, it is displayed on my secretary at the moment and as soon as I dust the mantel in the kitchen it will become part of the Thanksgiving display!

I have wanted to try this tea for a long while because it has some really good reviews on here. To be honest, I used to be fairly picky and didn’t eat peaches or apricots, so I wondered if I could tell much difference.

I ordered the absolutely amazing, perfect little sample box made of wood from Harney and Sons. I think it had about 22 different sample teas in it and this was one of them. I had not tried any of them yet, but I took them out to use the box temporarily as our November “Thankful box” in which everyone in the family plus any guests or visitors who desire to do so can place a slip of paper naming something they are thankful for/about. We read them on Thanksgiving night. It was our way of making sure that Thanksgiving didn’t become just the inaugural dinner of the Christmas season, but was actually a time of thanksgiving. The Canadians have it right. It really should take place in October!

This is a tea bag rather than a sachet. I steeped it for 3 1/2 minutes in boiling water. Yes, I can tell a difference between this and peach, and I prefer this. This was fantastic! I do taste the black tea, but I feel like I have bitten into a ripe, juicy apricot and have juice running down my hand. It seems more natural than the peach flavor one to me. This will definitely be on a future loose leaf order. I can’t even imagine how great it would be iced and slightly sweetened.

Both H&S’s ‘Apple & Cinnamon’, and ‘Apricot’, are great fruity flavoured blacks teas, and I enjoy them both hot or cold .. Thinking outside the cup, they could also be an interesting flavouring ingredient; for example in what is currently being described as ‘The Best Fruit Crumble Ever!!!!!’ :D

You can use any fruit, but I spontaneously decided to soak some dehydrated Apricots, Apples, & Cranberries in what was left of this Apricot Tea (still warm) .. Then ladled it evenly into ramekins and put a layer of this mix on top:

250gm Butter
3 cups Rolled Oats
1.5 cups Stone-Ground Wheat
1 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
0.5 teaspoon Ground Clove
2 handfuls (shelled) Sunflower Seeds
1 cup Brown Sugar

- Rub together with fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs ..
- This makes heaps so you can store left-over in fridge for next time ..
- Alternate Flavours: (add) Lemon Rind, Ground Ginger, Ground Cardamon, Walnuts ..

- Bake at 170°C for 15min, and serve at desired temp ..

never would have expected to like this one more than the American Tea Room Apricot but hell, i just do. i will consider buying a small tin of this in the spring. i’m even adding it to my shopping list as a reminder, and heck i rarely do that.
it’s not like amazing or anything, but i could easily see myself chugging a cup on a regular basis when the sun is out. know what i mean :)

backlog of this morning.
This is a very pleasant black tea base, without any bitterness nor astringency. The apricot flavour is sweet, mellow.
I am not sure the flavour is 100% natural but anyway it works perfectly.
I like mono flavoured teas, this is a kind of ode to a flower a fruit, a spice.
I love apricot and really enjoyed this one, thanks Nicole for the share.

Made this as a cold brew. Brewed for about 12 hours. I found this one is much more nutty, and not so much fruity as a cold brew. It smells like strong almond butter, with faint notes of fruity flavour. The taste is very nutty. Very creamy, almond, hazelnut flavour. Almost slight hints of vanilla. There is a very light taste of apricot underneath the nutty flavour but I have to think hard to pick it out. The fruity flavour is moreso in the aftertaste. It makes a decent cold brew, but because it is tasting creamy, I would prefer it as a hot brew.

One of my earliest memories as a child was my mother teaching me about how companies kind of lie to you to get you to buy their product. We were walking down the cereal aisle and there was this box of shredded wheat with giant blueberries on the box and I wanted some-badly. I was too young to read and my mom explained that there were no blueberries in the box and that it was just a “serving suggestion”. Well, what does a 4 year old want with plain shredded wheat? I moved on.

So, now I’m an adult and there’s this apricot tea from Harney. The pic here shows apricots, the pic on their site shows apricots. Now, I love dried apricots, but I never considered them in a tea. However, the tea has some good reviews and the apricots in the pictures called to me. Harney doesn’t really list ingredients, but I bought some anyway.

So, let me be emphatic there are no apricots in this tea! I don’t see why not, I’ve had all kinds of dried/freeze dried fruit in tea, but there isn’t any here.

Disappointment is not a good way to start with a new tea. However, I moved on. This tea is okay. Good even, I suppose. I taste the apricot and it seems fairly natural. It goes well with the black base. It’s sweet, but sugar improves it if you are so inclined-usually I’m not. The tea is smooth and not bitter. I really can’t find a time of day to have this tea-not strong enough for breakfast, too sweet for afternoon, yet not really “dessert-ey” tasting. Maybe it would be good iced.
It’s a decent tea, but I probably wouldn’t buy it again.

At least ten years ago, I purchased the Apricot teabags and loved them. Finally, last Fall (I think), I purchased the loose leaf version which I prefer. Why? Well, with the loose leaf you have more control over leaf quantity, and the leaves tend to be fuller, and there is better chance for leaf expansion & extraction of flavor.

My specs below are for hot tea, but I also iced this tea. The dry leaf aroma is really unique, and very smellicious! There is something really warm, nutty and comforting about this tea. There is a pronounced apricot aroma, which has a natural sweetness….like…like dark brown sugar. The color in the cup is a deep orange/brown. In the cup, I still get good aromatics of warm, nutty, sweet notes of the apricot. I can taste the base tea well enough, with less sweet notes (I drink it plain), while still savoring the warm, nutty apricot flavor. What I like about this blend is that it is straightforward and uncomplicated black tea with really good apricot flavoring. Rating: 86.

I iced this using my french press at 205 degrees, using one heaping tablespoon, steeping for ten minutes.

SIDE NOTE: As I write this the windows are open…this is the first cool night/morning in weeks, and I hear a train in the distance. I really enjoy listening to the sound of trains!

OK….back to the tea. This is a good iced tea. Since the tea is cold, I lost some of the aromas, but the nuttiness of the apricot was there. The taste of the tea and apricot was balanced well, medium in strength of flavor. A little sweetener would be fine, if you like, but I almost always drink my iced teas plain too. Rating: 80.

Cupped on 08-09 and 08-10-2011. Reviewed on Wed, 08-10-2011.