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Try number 2.

Aroma from the packet was all lemon drops.

Made sure the water in my kettle was fresh and made sure it never went above 170 and shortened the brewing time to 2.5 minutes.

The skunk was still there while brewing. However, the shorter brewing time may have helped as the skunk seems to have stayed with the leaves instead of being in the cup.

The lemon is more noticeable now. That’s about it though. Nothing floral. Can’t even taste the tea.

Not impressed.

I was out running around with a friend and she wanted to hit Starbucks. Guess its been a while since the only teas they had last time I was there was Tazo.

I got this tea for something warm and spicy and hopefully not too bad. I was surprised as it was enjoyable.

Chai can be a bit of a hit or miss with me. While I enjoy clove, it too easily dominates, and I despise it when clove dominates. I could barely taste the clove in here. I adore cinnamon, but I couldn’t taste any in here at all.

The flavor I could taste is difficult for me to nail down. Possibly the cardamom. I’ve never had it in anything where it wasn’t dominated by another flavor. If this is indeed what I was tasting, I do enjoy the flavor.

I didn’t realize until looking this up that this is a black/rooibos blend. I normally have trouble with rooibos since it always have a medicinal flavor to it However, this tea, as well as another, I do not get that flavor from the rooibos.

Anyway, if I ever end up going back to Starbucks wanting something hot to drink, I will likely get it again. But its not something I would go out of my way for.

So, I revisited this tea. Instead of steeping in water, I did so in hot plain unsweetened almond milk for 4-5 minutes (made it quite strong). Then added a little SF Vanilla syrup.

Wow, this is actually really good now.

I decided to get a sampler of this because I wanted to try something just different and I needed to add a couple extra bucks to the order.

When I opened the packet, the first thought through my head was, oh, this was a mistake.
While it was brewing I could kind of maybe understand how some people might say that this is kinda similar to coffee. Not a lot, but there might be a wee itty bit of a similarity.

And then it finished brewing. I sit here smelling it, thinking, oh I do not want to taste this. But I will. I paid for it, I will give it a chance.

With my first sip, I am surprised. This tastes a lot better than I expected from the smell of it dry or the smell while it was brewing. The aroma improves as it cools.

I really have no clue as to how to describe this flavor or how to rate it. So I’m not. :)

This feels like its trying to be so much that it ends up being nothing.
I don’t notice the floral elements in either aroma or taste. I could smell the coconut on opening the packet, but the taste is lost in the tea.

Maybe the vanilla and almonds still stand out a little, but its not very much. I’m starting to suspect that I’m not a big fan of vanilla in teas.

Overall not a bad tea. I’m sure others would like it, but its not really my thing.

I’ve had this one a few times and its always been a bit too bitter for my tastes.
The first time I assumed I had brewed it too hot and too long so I dropped both the temp and time. While not as bad, its still too bitter for my liking.

I was hoping for a bit of a pick me up this morning. If this doesn’t improve as it continues to cool, I’ll just make a cup of Lady Gray instead.

Wish I wasn’t out of Caribe.

I opened the package and the first thing that hit me was lemon. Lemon? Go back to the Harney and Sons web site and it states orange peel. It smells like lemon to me. Actually smells almost exactly like a lemon drop.

As I start to brew, the scent of lemon stays but is accompanied by another that I just cannot identify. Something unpleasant. Something that just seems wrong.

And then I take my first sip and I taste lemon . . . and something kind of unpleasant hiding just behind it. I keep sipping as it cools and the flavor profile stays pretty much the same. And I still can’t identify that component that just seems wrong somehow.

Could it be the floral elements clashing with the lemon? I don’t think so, but the lemon is strong enough maybe it is messing with my ability to tell?

Could it be the green tea? Again, I don’t think so. I’ve had green teas a number of times. Even if I had steeped too hot or too long I can usually identify that. There’s no bitterness. I swear it almost smells like a fart covered up with lemon air freshener.

I’m going to give this a try again tomorrow. I keep thinking I just had to have done something wrong this time.

- Edit -

And on my way home, it hit me, as I assume someone else had hit it. Skunk. Its like a very very faint smell of skunk.

This is one of those cases where I suspect the tea is just fine, but not really my thing.
The fruit aroma is very strong and the fruit flavor appears to dominate the tea. It possibly doesn’t help that I am not a huge fan of stone fruits to begin with.

Also, for some very weird reason, the aroma of the tea as I go to take a sip makes me think its going to taste soapy. I have no idea as to why. It doesn’t taste soapy. Maybe I am associating it with one of those scented shower gels or something similar.

This may be an excellent tea for others, but its just not my thing.

Every time I make a cup of this tea, I fall in love just that little bit more. The aroma is just so uplifting. I’m not big on fruity teas (not counting citrus), so every cup is like a new little surprise. :)

It works well with a second steeping but doesn’t really hold up for a third.

So, opening the package, this tea has a wonderful aroma. That aroma is a bit muted once it starts brewing. In tasting the tea, I can tell that there is flavor there other than just black tea, but just barely. And its not enough to identify what that is. I tried steeping it for longer, but it just got bitter.

I don’t know, maybe my sensitivity to flavors has been demolished by my passion for spicy foods. :)

One I would be ok with drinking if its what was available, but not something I would pick first or go out of my way for.