Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Fruit & Herbal Tisane

Where to Buy:  Tea & All It’s Splendor

Tea Description:

Blueberries, meet apple, ginger and lemongrass. These fruits and herbs along with a small bouquet of other herbals are blended together to make a caffeine free blend, that will have you wishing blueberry season was here.

The blackberry leaf mixed with dried blueberries and apples provide a bold, naturally sweet blueberry flavour that reminds us of pie. The verbena, lemon grass and ginger give us the “zing”, making this the best herbal blend we’ve tried this year.

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Taster’s Review:

I didn’t look at the ingredient list before I brewed this Blueberry Zinger Fruit Tisane from Tea & All It’s Splendor, but based on the name of it I figured that it had hibiscus in it.  So when I measured 1 1/2 bamboo scoops of the tisane into the basket of my Kati Tumbler, I was a little surprised to not see hibiscus in the blend.  It was a pleasant surprise, to be sure and I could hear a little voice in my head say, “just because you don’t see the hibiscus doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

I poured 12 ounces of 195°F into the tumbler and let the tea steep for just six minutes, thinking that there had to be hibiscus in the blend.  But when I lifted up the strainer basket and saw that the tisane was a golden amber color and not a ruby color – there wasn’t even a hint of pink hue to the liquid!  It was then that I thought, “Huh!  Maybe, just maybe someone knows how to make a tisane without hibiscus in it!”

Then I went to the Tea & All It’s Splendor website to check out the ingredient list:

Apple and ginger pieces, blackberry leaves, blueberries, heather blossoms, melissa and verbena leaves, lemongrass, natural flavouring, blue cornflower blossoms.

Did you see that?  Or perhaps, do you NOT see that!  Because I’m looking at an ingredient list for a fruit and herbal tisane that doesn’t have hibiscus in it.

Oh joyful day – I knew it could be done!  Other tea blenders out there, take note – you CAN make a fruit and herbal tisane without hibiscus.  It can be done!

This is really quite a tasty tisane.  I think that the name might be a tad misleading, only because I’m tasting more apple, ginger and lemony notes than I am blueberry.  But don’t let that deter you from trying this blend because it’s really good – and I DO taste the blueberry.

As I said in the previous paragraph, the apple, lemon and ginger are the three strongest notes that I taste.  The apple tastes sweet and is a nice contrast to the zesty ginger flavor.  The lemon-y note is not particularly tart, but I do get a hint of tartness here and there.  These three flavors come through right at the start of the sip.

Just before mid-sip, I taste a flavor that I’ll describe as herbaceous.  It isn’t a distinct herbal flavor.  It just tastes lightly herb-y.  Just after mid-sip, I notice the blueberry starting to come through and by the finish, I do taste a clear blueberry note.  It’s a sweet blueberry note and I like that this tastes authentic.  I’m not getting a fake berry flavor.

I’m very pleased with this tisane.  I’m very happy that there isn’t any hibiscus in this – and perhaps most surprising about the lack of hibiscus is that in just about every berry fruit/herbal tisane like this, hibiscus is used because hibiscus has a tart flavor that is often mistaken for a berry taste.  I’m so happy that Tea & All It’s Splendor didn’t take the ‘easy way out’ with this blend and add hibiscus to it.  And I’m even happier that Postal Teas decided to include it in this month’s box!