I bought this tea on a whim while I was at a local healthy grocery store. My boyfriend and I had to go to the DMV so I could register my car in NY and the DMV is in the mall (?!). The aforementioned grocery store is also in the mall (?!) so I stopped in to have a look at their tea selection as we were leaving. I don’t have any experience with Republic of Tea but I love blueberry and I recently finished the other blueberry tea I’d had. Blueberry and black tea is my favorite combination, as herbal blends are usually super tart and rooibos blends don’t have enough body. So I picked out this one to try! I opened the tin in the car and the smell was very encouragingly blueberry. :D
The instructions note that one teabag is intended for 6 ounces of water. Umm…what? Does that seem odd to anyone else? So I ended up using two bags and brewing a larger cup than I generally do. The tin recommends 3-5 minutes so I decided to try 3 first. I added a bit of sugar, as I generally do for flavored teas.
This tea is pretty good! The blueberry and the tea are roughly equal in strength, both are tasted at all times. I’m unsure what kind of tea the base is, the tin makes no mention of it and their website lists several countries for “Country of Origin”. India is one of them, and seems the most likely of the bunch. Anyway! The base itself is somewhat malty and there’s a pleasant, mild woody quality to it. The blueberry is somewhat of a “jammy” variety – deep and rich rather than tart and juicy. And I like it very much! There’s a bit of creaminess in here that reminds me of vanilla, although it’s not listed as a flavor. The one complaint I have about this is that when I was drinking it straight, I found it quite astringent. I added some milk (which I never do) and it really helped to tone that down. So this one is definitely best enjoyed with milk and sugar from what I can tell!
I will definitely try it with some other parameters to see if I can somehow eliminate that astringency. Luckily I have many bags to experiment with! Overall, this is a lovely and convenient blueberry black tea!
Flavors: Astringent, Blueberry, Jam, Malt, Vanilla, Wood
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The proportions are a little weird…everyone I know who drinks Republic of Tea teas ends up using multiple bags per serving too. I think the bag itself being smaller/flatter is the cause?
It’s very weird! :P Although I think a lot of people probably make 12 ounce or larger cups of tea anyway. I just usually do 8 ounces.
The proportions are a little weird…everyone I know who drinks Republic of Tea teas ends up using multiple bags per serving too. I think the bag itself being smaller/flatter is the cause?
It’s very weird! :P Although I think a lot of people probably make 12 ounce or larger cups of tea anyway. I just usually do 8 ounces.