Strawberry teas are favorites with my crowd and we love how well they pair with chocolate and decadent desserts. Some of the ones we have tried have been very finicky and others forgiving. I think this one might fall in the somewhat finicky category, but I didn’t realize it at first.
This is a Ceylon base, and I usually find Ceylon tea to be still palatable at four minutes steep time, but this one says to only give it three. I do prefer low grown Ceylon to high, as the high elevation tea tends to have strong lemon notes and higher astringency.
When I first tried this tea, it was with cookies. It went very well with them and the strawberry flavor was a good strength. I was pretty shocked to see reviews ALL OVER THE PLACE. Too tart, too dry, too astringent. Not enough strawberry, not enough tea flavor. Then others said it was their perfect strawberry tea, there was plenty of tea flavor, their favorite strawberry tea, so much strawberry aroma.
So what’s up? Lots. Different people may have made it differently. People who called it too astringent may have been drinking it plain while folks saying it was perfect were adding milk and/or sugar. Some batches may have been freshly purchased and other reviews may have come from people who were sent a sample by a friend and the tea was no longer fresh. And opinions differ because people differ.
My take on it was this – it was great with food with no milk or sugar added. The strength of the base and the strawberry flavor helped it to “stand up” to the food and not disappear. When I tried it by itself, I did find it to be very drying and to have a bit of tartness. A tiny splash of milk and a sprinkle of sugar fixed that. If you don’t want to add anything, try dropping the temp just below boiling and keep your steep a little shorter. Or just do like me and eat a cookie.
While I enjoyed it with sweets very much, I would prefer to have it on a Keemun base if I were planning to drink it by itself.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
Strawberry black tea combines the succulent taste of sweet strawberries with bright Ceylon black tea. Fresh sweet-floral and berry flavor, smooth and sugary texture. It’s a treat you’ll want to keep for yourself!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Alpine Strawberry from Mountain Witch Tea Company. . . . .
Around this time every year, I get a craving for berries. Fresh, bright, juicy and sweet– I don’t know if it’s subliminal marketing towards pinks and reds from all the Valentine’s Day goodness floating around in the month of February or the sheer ferocity of Midwestern cabin fever (let me eat a plant that doesn’t taste like water just once, PLEASE), but the craving just keeps getting stronger and stronger. So when I noticed this tea sitting in my stash, I was almost surprised that something promising bright, juicy berry flavors had even lasted this long into the winter!
The dry leaf is pretty innocuous, mostly homogenous leaves with a fairly traditional black tea scent. When brewed, it’s a nice dark and roasty golden that takes nicely to honey. I can’t say that I’m picking out too much of the vibrancy of fruit flavors that I was hoping for, but rather a more mellow, subdued freshness to balance the black that is pretty pleasant. Maybe my desire for magical flavors to transport me right back to summer had my hopes a little too high, but for a flavored black, it’s got some interesting notes with light and fresh notes coming out as I sip further. A lovely one to sip as we count down the days until spring (41, but who’s counting?!) (Me. I’m totally counting.)!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Mountain Witch Tea Company
Description
It’s so hard to find strawberry tea! So we made our own. Our Alpine Strawberry tea is a sweet, tart delight made with black tea, strawberry leaves and our special Alpine strawberry flavor. Great hot or iced.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
