They say that tea tastes different depending on the soil, weather, elevation, location, etc. Which always sounded silly to me, until I started really getting into tea. And now I’m all “this has a kick, probably a Darjeeling” or “malty! Assam, maybe!” My husband thought I was joking at first.
It’s not a joke. It’s DEAD SERIOUS.
This tea is AMERICAN tea. U-S-A! U-S-A! It has a raisin-y underbelly that I find a lot in black teas, usually Ceylon. Is South Carolina like Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in weather? To do some really rudimentary research, I pulled up a world map.
Sri Lanka is the little teardrop-shaped island by the bottom of India. It is essentially booping the Equator on the nose. South Carolina, on the other hand, is up by where “Bahamas” and “Haiti” are written. They don’t look like they have the same relationship to the equator, so the similarity in flavor profile is not explained that way. I’m all out of other ideas. Sorry.
I have temporarily made this map my computer desktop so I can consult it. This blog post, at the very least, might help me with my geography in the long run.
Back to the tea! It isn’t all black! There is also raspberry flavoring, which I feared would overpower the base , but totally didn’t. They coincided nicely, like kids in a sandbox that resisted throwing sand in each other’s eyes. (Kids’ violent, rapid-fire friendships and breakups frighten me a little.)
I’d say if you like straight blacks with a little something extra, try this. But if you’re looking for a straight sweet dessert, this might not be the thing for you. It might be very good iced, but I had it hot, and really enjoyed it that way.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Charleston Tea Plantation
Description
Rockville Raspberry Tea is grown on the Charleston Tea Plantation in the Lowcountry near historic Charleston, South Carolina. It is only here that direct descendants of heirloom tea bushes, brought from China and India over 100 years ago, have been lovingly cultivated to make this tea. Enjoy the invigorating and great taste of Rockville Raspberry Tea.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
American Classic Rockville Raspberry Premium Black Tea from Charleston Tea Plantation #VeganMoFo2016
For Vegan MoFo today it’s “Something Different” – Cook a cuisine you’ve never tried before or one you don’t often make often enough. Here at Sororitea Sisters we don’t seem to sip on enough American Made Tea not because we don’t want to but because there is really only ONE working Tea Plantation here in the US. They are also the ONLY Tea Plantation in North America where you can see hundreds of thousands of tea bushes on site. So I thought it was fitting that I feature one of their teas for today’s Vegan MoFo prompt. The tea we are featuring in this post is American Classic Rockville Raspberry Premium Black Tea from Charleston Tea Plantation.
American Classic Rockville Raspberry Premium Black Tea from Charleston Tea Plantation is grown in South Carolina and the dry blend looks like an oily flakey tea with very small, short, and thin twigs mixed in. American Classic Rockville Raspberry Premium Black Tea from Charleston Tea Plantation is intensely flavored with Non-GMO raspberry.
The taste is a lighter to medium strength black tea base with a good amount of raspberry flavoring on the tongue, too! If you are looking for something berry-like and gently black tea based and want to support an American Tea Plantation try American Classic Rockville Raspberry Premium Black Tea from Charleston Tea Plantation!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Charleston Tea Plantation
Description:
Whether you brew by the cup or the pot, tea lovers will enjoy the subtle nuances and fresh-from-the-farm flavor of full leaf loose American Classic Teas. Our Rockville Raspberry tin contains 2.3 oz. of flavored premium black tea.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
American Classic Rockville Raspberry from Charleston Tea Plantation
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Charleston Tea Plantation
Product Description:
Whether you brew by the cup or the pot, tea lovers will enjoy the subtle nuances and fresh-from-the-farm flavor of full leaf loose American Classic Teas. Reminiscent of a bygone era, our Rockville Raspberry tin contains 1.6 oz. of flavored premium black tea.
Taster’s Review:
There aren’t a whole lot of teas grown in the United States. In fact, to my knowledge, the Charleston Tea Plantation is the only commercial tea farm in the continental United States. So I feel very privileged (and even a little proud!) to be able to try this tea.
The black tea base is remarkably smooth. There is very little astringency to the tea. There is a slight starchiness that is somewhat drying toward the tail end of the sip, but it isn’t “pucker-y” like some other teas astringent quality, and even that slight dry feeling is, indeed, slight. It is a rich tasting tea, bold but not particularly aggressive in this cup.
Which is just fine! I like the way the raspberry flavor reveals itself here. The flavor is sweet with just a bit of berry tartness that lingers in the aftertaste. It isn’t overwhelmingly “fruity” – this is a black tea that has been gently flavored with the essence of raspberry. It isn’t overdone or too sweet. It is just right.
This is a tea that is delicious served hot – it’s perfectly cozy on a chilly day like today. But I suspect it would make an even better iced tea! A light drizzle of honey or agave nectar will bring out some of the more delicate flavors of both the tea and the raspberry, but, it really isn’t necessary. It’s quite delicious without, too.
I like this one a lot!
