Berry Black™ - Raspberry Darjeeling Black Tea

1 bag for 250mL water, bare.

Ehrrr … I am not kindly disposed to this one. It will have hibiscus — ugh. And adding flavbouring to Darjeeling is risky, at best. Darjeeling is so wonderful on its own — and can be hard to get, so why wreck the limited supply with flavours?

But I digress. I might even be wrong.

Steeping the bag in a clear glass mug … um, yeah, it looks like it’s bleeding, not steeping. Damn you, hibiscus!

Decent muscatel scent, though a slightly earthy one.

If you want to give a vampire tea party, this is the tea to make. Quite striking — and bloody, really — against glass. I would imagine it would be so agasint white china, too.

First sip: all hibiscus.

Second sip: 90% hibiscus, 10% stale tea.

Berries? Where?

Like I said, I was prejudiced against this blend from the start, as I strongly dislike hisbiscus. It’s a bully!

Third sip: 60 hibiscus, 30 getting-bitter tea, 10 sharp mystery dirt.

Steep time: 2:30. I imagine the tea will develop and battle the hibiscus, but the tea’s already bitter. (Darjeeling, bitter? WTH?) Must go water a plant.

If you don’t mind hibiscus, maybe try this one at a very short steep. It shoudl yield you a cup of hibiscus water with a faint black tea infusion.

Not for me.

Another tea from my box of assorted Numi teas. It smells mildly tea-ish with an undertone of…raspberry? Hibiscus? I dunno.

When I added the water the tea instantly turned bright red – Y halo thar hibiscus. >.<

Unfortunately the hibiscus managed to dominate the tea with its tartness – I get the Darjeeling in the aftertaste and to be fair its wine-like astringency actually meshes quite well with the ‘berry’ flavour. The raspberry and strawberry flavours are there but the whole thing is just so frickin’ sour that I can’t really enjoy the tea at all. I drank it all, but it’s definitely NOT going to be on my Shopping List any day soon.

Well, if nothing else this tea succeeded in reminding me why I hate hibiscus.

I really liked this tea — it was great hot but even better once it cooled — I think it would make an awesome iced tea. :D

One word: meh

Something I picked up on my way to work today, I am not the hugest darjeeling fan but this was supposed to have sweet strawberry zest so I thought the combination of the two would be nice.

Unfortunately the darjeeling and the berry are totally overpowered by the hibiscus. This tea was kind of tart and left a funny aftertaste in my mouth. I had to struggle to finish it but it wasn’t so bad that I threw it away.

I had this tea at 3pm with cookies as a homework break. I don’t really enjoy hibiscus but I don’t hate it either and I liked its combination with darjeeling here. It really gave the tea a berry feel. Plus it gets bonus points for reminding me of a tea my mom used to make me in middle school.

Pleasant! Didn’t let it steep long because of the hibiscus and rosehips, but there is a full bodied quality I feel in my mouth when I sip this that I don’t normally taste from flavored, fruity teas. And that makes me pleased. Maybe not what I expected, but still enjoyable.

A bit too sweet for my tastes, and if I had added sugar, it would be like liquid candy. I can taste a bit of the raspberry when I put my mind to it, but it strikes me as a bit tart, and more like a substitute, generic berry than anything specific. What darjeeling there is seems overwhelmed by the hibiscus and rosehips (which frankly, I think we should ban altogether from tea), but it works better for this tea than I have tasted in other berry blends. No bitter aftertaste, but leaves my mouth feeling dry the way I do when I drink pink lemonade..?! It is biting cold outside, so I’m just happy to have a warm mug and tummy.

I like most Numi Teas and this is the first with which I’ve been a bit disappointed. This tea tastes like pink lemonade to me. Which is fine if you want pink lemonade, but if you want a black tea with a strong berry flavor, you won’t be happy. I think Numi needs to limit the hibiscus and rosehips which overwhelm any berry flavor.

Visually the tea is very pretty but we cannot live on vision alone.

Overall, Numi is a great company and this experience won’t deter me from trying their other blends.

This has been one of my staple teas for awhile. I always make it iced, so it’s great for these hot days. It is sweet and tart with a great berry flavor, and I can still taste the Darjeeling base. There is no artificial aftertaste. It’s a clean taste with a very short crisp aftertaste.

This was one of the first teas that I liked so maybe I’m partial, but I’m surprised at the low ratings here. I’ve never tried it bagged. I buy the loose leaf directly from Numi. The loose tea is gorgeous by the way. Lots of pretty berry pieces and rolled whole leaves. And, I like hibiscus in iced teas. This tea is very similar to the Rishi Raspberry Green. I could keep either one to fill this slot in my cupboard.

Eugh. I have got to stay away from the hibiscus. This would have been fine without the hibiscus. It’s far too astringent with it. The rest of it could be good if it weren’t masking everything else.

I really like this one. There is some tartness, as others have noted, but nothing excessive. I think the tartness is about equal to a green apple. The flavor is more berry than tea. I’m sure it would be great iced. Prepared with splenda.