63

I had really high hopes for this tea when I ordered it. I saw the redcurrants in the ingredients list and hoped they would be tart and fruity like in my old favourite, Teaopia’s Spring Morning. I thought that the apple would just reinforce this, and it would be a big, fruity, juicy cuppa.

However, when I opened the package from RiverTea, the smell that met my nose was not a lovely juicy summery fruitiness, but instead woodsy and medicinal. It reminded me almost exactly of the blackcurrant lozenges I was using to get over my cold.

Subsequent smells of the dry leaf reveal a deeper apple smell, but the medicinal smell still exists. Tonight I summoned up my courage, and drank – and yup. It smells AND tastes like cough medicine.

It’s passable, but it really needs something else in there to overpower the medicinal flavours. Ah well.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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Bio

Updated March 2016:

I’m a writer and editor who’s fallen in love with loose-leaf tea. I’ve also set up a site for tea reviews at http://www.booksandtea.ca – an excellent excuse to keep on buying and trying new blends. There will always be more to discover!

In the meantime, since joining Steepster in January 2014, I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on my likes and dislikes

Likes: Raw/Sheng pu’erh, sobacha, fruit flavours, masala chais, jasmine, mint, citrus, ginger, Ceylons, Chinese blacks, rooibos.

Dislikes (or at least generally disinclined towards): Hibiscus, rosehip, chamomile, licorice, lavender, really vegetal green teas, shu/ripe pu’erh.

Things I generally decide on a case-by-case basis: Oolong, white teas.

Still need to do my research on: matcha

I rarely score teas anymore, but if I do, here’s the system I follow:

100-85: A winner!
84-70: Pretty good. This is a nice, everyday kind of tea.
69-60: Decent, but not up to snuff.
59-50: Not great. Better treated as an experiment.
49-0: I didn’t like this, and I’m going to avoid it in the future. Blech.

Location

Toronto, ON, Canada

Website

http://www.booksandtea.ca

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