When drinking martinis, one of my favorites included (the now discontinued) Absolut Kurant vodka, which was an honest-tasting, un-sweetened, blackcurrant infusion. I love blackcurrant, but not artificial blackcurrant flavoring, so Harney’s claim of a “delightful” aroma is a bit of a stretch for me. Because that is what hits my nose when I open up the tin of Paris, like a stampede of perfumed buffalos, even after half a decade of storage in my tea cabinet. I steeped the tetrahedral sachet of Paris in 8 oz. of 90°C alpine spring water, per the suggestion of user ashmanra, for the 5 min. directed by H&S.
Fortunately, the steeping drives off much of the blackcurrant power, and so in the first sip, it merely fills my sinuses with aroma of artificial currant and caramel. The vanilla sings in sotto voce at the back of my tongue, and the overall blend is quite pleasant. I can’t really suss-out the flavor of bergamot, nor can I clearly identify the base tea. Perhaps some of the fleeting floral notes are coming from the oolong that partly comprises the base. I find that I appreciate the lingering deep finish of vanilla and caramel quite a lot more than the initial punch in the nose by those heavy-handed top notes.
I think apricot or plum flavor might be a superior replacement to the black currant, if I were to blend something, hopefully allowing the oolong and bergamot to emerge. As much as I love the City of Paris, this isn’t really my cuppa tea. But, it might be yours!
Flavors: Artificial, Black Currant, Caramel, Perfume, Tea, Vanilla
