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Anlina drank Berry Vanilla by Secret Garden Tea Company

894 tasting notes

Wow, what a hectic day. This was my first cup of the morning, at 7:30, and here it is, after 1pm and I’m just finishing it.

The dry leaf is dark and twisted and smells very tart, with berry notes.

I steeped this at 96c for 2:30, 1tsp in 8oz of water. I think with these Secret Garden black teas, I need to try steeping in cooler water, because this is on the border of tasting over steeped. It’s not particularly bitter or astringent, just starting to develop those characteristics a bit, and I feel like I could do with a lighter cup.

So, I’m not really feeling this one. The description really got the flavours and lightness of strawberry shortcake and whipped cream in my head, and I’m not really getting those qualities. There’s raspberry and strawberry flavours, and just a hint of tartness, along with some rosy floral notes, but the vanilla isn’t really making itself known, and it’s just lacking the creaminess that I was hoping for.

It’s not bad, but it doesn’t really stand out among berry teas for me. The flavour didn’t really change or develop much from hot to cold.

Thank you, Tiffany at Secret Garden for the sample.

Flavors: Astringent, Floral, Raspberry, Rose, Strawberry, Tart

Preparation

205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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Bio

I grew up drinking jasmine green tea with meals, but really fell in love with tea on a trip to Britain in elementary school. My first great love was Earl Grey, and I still adore it and all its variants.

I discovered the beauty of loose leaf tea much later, when, on impulse, I picked up a few teas that were on clearance at a home store. My introduction to loose leaf teas were Masala Chai and Provence Rooibos by the Metropolitan Tea Co and an unknown brand of kukicha and gyokuro (little did I know what a precious treasure I’d stumbled onto with that.)

At the time I was lucky to live in a place with multiple tea shops and several places to have afternoon tea, which is a delight I still miss.

Tea is part of my daily ritual and a nice, affordable way to appease the collector in me.

I enjoy distinctive whites, greens and oolongs, flavoured blacks, and herbals that are heavy on the citrus, lavender or mint.

Rating rubric, to give myself some consistency:
0-15 Yuck, not even drinkable.
16-30 Disappointing, not really inclined to give it a second try.
31-45 Disappointing, but maybe there’s potential? Worth one more try, prepped differently.
46-60 Mediocre, not terrible but not memorable.
61-75 Not bad. I’ll definitely finish what I have and might buy again.
76-90 Very enjoyable. Tasty, complex, it’ll keep me coming back.
91-100 BEST! I love everything about it and I will drink it forever.

Beyond tea, I’m a sex educator, polyamory activist, and radical queer. I love backwoods camping, abstract painting, baking & cooking, nail polish, cats, ceramic sculpture, and home nesting.

Location

Winnipeg, MB, Canada

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