Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green
Where to Buy: ESP Emporium
Company Description:
This fruity creation will impress you with its unusual spicy influences. Notes of exotic fruits, berries and creamy soft almond endow this black and green tea blend from China and Ceylon with an exotic, oriental taste experience, and orange peels and various blossoms reflect this in its appearance.
Taster’s Review:
This is one of those teas that I wasn’t too sure about before I tasted it. It is a blend of black and green teas, and because this causes some concern when it comes to brewing the tea, I am always a little skeptical about these blends. Since black tea is best brewed when the water is brought to a gentle boil, and green tea is best brewed when the water is hot but not boiling, it can be a little confusing as to how to best extract the flavor from the tea without ruining it.
In cases like this, I always go with the lower temperature. This results in less flavor from the black tea, but, then again, with the lighter flavored green tea, this is probably a good thing. So, I heated the water to the steaming point, when the tiny bubbles began forming at the base of the kettle but weren’t yet rising to the surface. Then I steeped it for 4 minutes. I felt safe that this would result in a tasty brew.
And I was correct! This is very tasty, indeed. The black tea is indeed lighter than a typical black tea would be when brewed with boiling water, but it works in this cup. The combination of the two teas creates a very well-rounded taste – with a slightly woodsy note and a fresh note of vegetation. I can even taste just a hint of smoke in the background, but it is ever so slight.
This creates a nice backdrop for the flavoring. I taste a “fruit” taste that is somewhat like a tropical melangé. Like the description above suggests, it does have a very exotic taste to it, and I love the whisper of the nutty flavor of almond, and although I don’t get much of the creamy taste that the description implies, I do like how well the nutty tones meld with the other flavors here.
There is also a delicate floral note that hits about mid-sip. It is lightly sweet and gives a really interesting complexity to this refreshing cup of tea. But it is the fruit flavors that are the most prominent here: there is a distinct citrus-y tone to this tea, as well as an equally distinct berry tart taste that lingers in the finish.
Because of the overall lightness of this tea, it has very little to no astringency (I didn’t detect any, and my palate tends to be very sensitive in detecting astringency), and when brewed properly, it is not bitter. Just delicious, fruity flavor! Oh! And this one is even better when chilled! Yum!
