I steeped 1tsp tea for 4 min. in one cup of water at 200-205 degrees, which produced a cup of tea with a nice dark amber color. Though there’s no berry coloring, there’s plenty of berrylike fragrance. The tea leaves themselves are attractive, with marigold and cornflower petals providing some nice color contrasts.
The berry smell blends with the black tea fragrance surprisingly well. (On a side note, I’m glad they used a high-quality black tea for this blend, as I tend to tire easily of “black tea” bases that have no actual tea flavor so that all you can taste is the flavoring.)
First sip: Not too astringent or acidic, which is nice. There is a bit of astringency, though. The berry flavor I’m finding in this tea is a bit friendlier, somehow, than most berry flavored teas I’ve tried. Perhaps a bit smoother? I’m sensing a rich, strawberry-like flavor here, and maybe a bit of raspberry as well. Maybe that’s why it’s less astringent and acidic than other berry-flavored teas that are heavy on the raspberry and blueberry. (It turns out that the strawberry-like flavor must have been from the “natural passion fruit flavors” in this tea. I guess I’m just not that familiar with passion fruit.)
It’s also not bitter at all, which I appreciate.
While the black tea flavor is present and isn’t overwhelmed by the berry flavor, it’s not super prominent either and doesn’t overwhelm the berry flavor. They exist side-by-side rather elegantly.
When I add milk, it tastes like berries and cream just as I’d hoped. MMMMmmmm! I like it best this way. (Okay, that’s not really a surprise.)
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Tiesta Tea
Description
Ingredients: black tea + natural passion fruit flavors + cornflowers + marigold petals + raspberry bits
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bake a Valentine’s Cake to Go With Your Tea
Valentine’s Day. A time for everything pink and rosy. Strawberries and chocolate galore. If you are looking to recreate that sweet, romantic, dessert feeling I would recommend brewing up a cup of Chocolate Covered Strawberries by Shuswap Infusions. This black and oolong blend has dark chocolate and strawberry notes, and it even has flower petals in the dry leaf.
Whether you’re celebrating yourself or being cute with a sweetheart, it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate. So I recommend making an old family recipe (that we clearly just took from the King Arthur Flour cookbook) for a super-easy, super-tasty, one-pan vegan mocha cake. Trust me, even those of you who are baking-impaired can make this one. We call it the Stir-Crazy Cake.
For best results, mix the ingredients in the pan from which you will serve the cake. This won’t be a problem if you use a cute heart-shaped pie dish or cake pan for the occasion.
Mix directly in your pan:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Mix dry ingredients with a whisk or fork.
Make three wells (three divots or holes) in the dry ingredients.
Pour the wet ingredients into the wells, only one ingredient into each well:
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Pour 1 cup cold coffee over all ingredients. If you don’t want a mocha cake, just use cold water instead. [For those kitchen-oriented mad scientists out there, maybe adding a cold cup of your favorite dessert or strawberry tea could be a nice substitute as well. I haven’t experimented myself, but now I’m curious to try it… ]
Stir all the ingredients together until well blended. Really make sure you mix the cake (hence the “Stir-Crazy” name). Get all the dry ingredients mixed in from the bottom and edges of the pan.
Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, without any crumbs.
Serve straight from the pan to your plate. If you’re getting overloaded from chocolate, brew up something sweet and fruity to go with the cake, maybe a classic like Raspberry Zinger from Celestial Seasonings to help balance out the dark chocolate decadence.
Happy baking!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black/Oolong
Where to Buy: Shuswap Infusions
Description:
Just in time for Valentines Day! The name of this tea is just as delicious as it sounds. For a real treat, serve it as a latte garnished with shaved chocolate
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sir Rhuberry Oolongbottom from BlendBee
My family made a lot of strawberry rhubarb pies in the summertime, and each time I was tasked with washing and chopping the rhubarb from our garden. I was warned that the leaves were poisonous, and only the stems were okay to go in the pie. That dietary fact always made the bowl of chopped rhubarb and eggs and sugar all bubbling together seem like some questionable witches brew. But the resulting pie was always worth the danger, especially with all the pink strawberries in the mix.
Sir Rhuberry Oolongbottom from Blend Bee works to recreate this strawberry rhubarb combination. The dry leaf smells strong and sweet, a bit like artificial strawberry candy. A good dose of hibiscus ensures that this tea brews up bright pink, and brings a blast of tart, fruity flavors. Beneath all the sweet and sour, there is a gentle green, vegetal note, perhaps from the rhubarb or the oolong, and it adds a nice freshness to the tea.
Depending on your love of strawberries, you might really enjoy this tea for the berry sweetness. For me, the strawberry flavoring is very forward, so I would to argue for more rhubarb next time. Though, to be fair, I’m not sure that I would want a full-on rhubarb-only tea. Rhubarb is achingly sour on its own, and needs strawberries and sugar to truly be palatable. There’s a reason rhubarb and strawberries are so often paired together and this tea is true to that classic strawberry rhubarb pie flavor.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Blend Bee
Description:
Juicy and refreshing, this blend has just a hint of sweetness and is rounded out with bold red fruit flavors. You will long for Sir Rhuberry Oolongbottom.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Strawberry Genmaicha Green from ESP Emporium
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: ESP Emporium
Tea Description:
Here, we have two green teas, which were combined to an exceptional premium tea blend. The characteristic of Japanese Genmaicha is supported wonderfully by our smooth green tea. This creation is perfected by the added strawberry pieces and a finely balanced flavor composition.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Since I’ve tried a few ‘unconventional’ Genmaicha blends lately I wanted to do something different with this one, which is why I cold brewed it. I’m not even sure if I’ve ever done that before with a Genmaicha blend; I can’t easily bring an example to mind.
I have to admit it was a little weird tasting a cold brewed Genmaicha; the green tea wasn’t anything exceptional nor was it disappointing but the strong, drawn out notes of roasted brown rice – which took on a near barley taste, were more intense than I would expect from Genmaicha. More like a good mugicha than anything else, to be honest.
The strawberry certainly is not the most vibrant strawberry flavour though. I wouldn’t even call it all that realistic to be honest; what it does taste like it strawberry candy. Some kind of cross between those fluffy strawberry marshmallow five cent candies you see in gas stations and a really nice strawberry gummy candy? I like the taste itself, but the pairing with the green tea/roasted notes doesn’t work for me.
So overall; I’d say there were definitely high and low points to this tea and if I revisit it I’ll definitely be trying an alternative prep method (perhaps something more traditional) than revisiting this one. It’s not worth a second taste.
Strawberry Fields Tea from Sunshine Cottage
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Sunshine Cottage
Tea Description:
Plump, ripe, juicy strawberries with a cold, smooth cream – mmmmm! This is summer time heaven in a cup! A dash of half & half would enhance the flavor even more. Carefully blended and hand packaged, this tea will quickly become a favorite!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Strawberries in fresh cream. . .anybody a fan? Anybody? I am!
This tea reminds me of crisp sweet strawberries in fresh cream. Just like a fancy restaurant used to offer that my parents took me to quite often. When my dad was ready to go out to eat, we went all out. This particular restaurant also served bananas ‘n cream. I would always get one or the other for dessert.
This is a black tea but one that is done with finesse. I loved how the black tea provided a richness in the background while the strawberries and cream flavor where allowed to play. I did get slight hints of astringency so this one I don’t think would be very forgiving if oversteeped. There is also a very subtle and quite hint of a malty finish, which provides a bit of complexity. The strawberries had such a beautiful fresh flavor while the cream had a lush silky feel. Seriously. This tea was good. I recommend all the teas at the Sunshine Cottage. I’ve tried several and only didn’t care for a few and that was probably my fault for oversteeping. I would love to try this one as a cold brew or as a latte.
Now, to find a tea that tastes like the bananas n’ cream the restaurant also offered. . . .
