Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Bentley’s Finest Tea/Boston Tea Company
Company Description:
Dark, bountiful blackberries tartly sweeten our premium high-grown blend of Chinese and Indian black tea. Brew this fruity tart tea and get a taste of nature’s wild blackberries. Keep your tea fresh for many breaks to brew with this beautiful and reusable black tin; that’s portable too! Drink a cup of royalty with Bentley’s Finest Tea!
Taster’s Review:
This tea makes me think of my little girl (who is not so little anymore – she’s 9!) because while she enjoys most types of fruit, blackberries are her favorite. In the house that we lived in a few years ago, we had a blackberry bush and she would eat them fresh off the vine!
The aroma of this tea is much what I would expect with a blackberry flavored black tea – it smells like blackberries and black tea. No big surprise there. That being said, it is a very pleasing fragrance – sweet, fresh and fruity.
The cup possesses a very nice balance of flavors. The black tea is a medium-bodied tea with a somewhat mellow presence. It is not overly aggressive and yet it is able to hold it’s own and isn’t overpowered by the fruit. There is a light-to-medium astringency. By that I mean that it starts out quite light, to the point of being barely there. But by mid-cup, the astringency becomes a little more prominent and provides a dry finish.
The berry flavor is sweet but not overly so, with a twinge of tartness that arrives upon the palate in the aftertaste. It has a very distinct blackberry taste to it; that is to say that it doesn’t taste like “berry”… it tastes like blackberry. And it tastes good!
There is a wine-like essence to the cup with the berry flavor and the somewhat dry finish. But I think I’d rather sip on this than a glass of wine! Especially during chilly days such as this – I am finding it very comforting. And as delicious as this is hot, it is just as refreshing iced.
Another fine tea from Bentley’s Finest!
Blackberry Fig from The Jasmine Pearl
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Jasmine Pearl
Company Description:
Organic, light-bodied Darjeeling black tea blended with organic anise seed and sweet fig and blackberry natural flavors. This fragrant and gently sweet tea is excellent in the mid-afternoon, perhaps accompanied by a scone.
Ingredients:
Indian Black Tea*, Anise Seed*, Natural Flavors.
*Organically Grown.
Taster’s Review:
When I found this tea at a Made In Oregon store, I knew I had to buy it! First of all, I love supporting local businesses. Second, after smelling the anise, blackberry and fig aroma of this tea (they had little “smelling” jars on the shelves so that we could experience the fragrance before buying!), my mouth began to water – right there in the store! Finally, as if I needed further persuasion (I didn’t), it was a flavored Darjeeling tea!
I mean, seriously… how could I go wrong with this tea?
This is a delightful afternoon tea. I say “afternoon” tea, because, well, I find Darjeeling to be just a little to “light” for morning. In the morning, I need something with a bit of vigor… something that is going to help me shake the remnants of sleep and help get me going!
This… isn’t that tea. But what Darjeeling lacks in “vigor,” it more than makes up for with its light and refreshing taste. And that lightness is just right for this blend.
The muscatel of the Darjeeling complements the fruit flavors of the fig and blackberry (which seem to be more of a unified flavor, rather than two separate fruit tastes, which results in a very smooth, deliciously sweet fruit essence). The anise is also sweet… and is a very delicate note of licorice-like flavor that seems to wash over the palate throughout the sip and linger just ever-so-slightly in the finish.
I adore this tea. When served hot, it makes a great little pick-me-up to help with those afternoon blahs… and when served iced, it is perfectly refreshing and light! Delicious!
Angel’s Dream Tea from Metropolitan Tea Company
Tea Type: Black Tea, Green Tea
Where To Buy: Metropolitan Tea Company
Product Description:
Angels Dream is a heavenly tea with maple sweetness, blackberry pungency, juicy Assam’s, and a hint of our mystery green tea. Take wind and fly.
Tasters Review:
I must say this tea surprised me in more ways than one! I have sipped it on several occasions but it certainly didn’t last long in my tea stash. I ended up not only drinking it myself but sharing it with many friends!
The aroma is delightful. Mostly a sugary Maple scent with the tea scent to back it up. It’s Medium Brown in color.
This is a bagged tea. I’m NOT one of those loose-leaf ONLY type tea drinkers…I will try anything once. There are some REALLY good bagged teas out there – you just have to search for them! I truly believe this is one of those really good, flavorful bagged teas!
I can taste primarily the Maple but it’s not overwhelming. I can also taste the blueberry a bit as well. It sort of reminds me of blueberry (or blackberry) pancakes with maple syrup minus the pancakes.
The 2nd steep seems the maple taste is a little less and the blueberry a little more. Sometimes I will resteep a bagged tea if I am in hurry. When I first sampled this tea…it was ‘one of those days’.
There’s just something about the Maple/Blackberry pair…I didn’t think I would like it – but I really do. This is a great flavored tea/treat in a bag….great for days on the go!!!
