The dry tea is chock full of dried blue malva flowers, rose petals and lemon peel – it is a bit hard to get a well-blended scoop. Beautiful tea, but the company’s choice of a clear topped canister is clearly bad for the tea itself, though appealing to the consumer.
Brewed at 175 for 1 min as directed. Brews light to med yellow-gold with a light lemon/floral scent. Very slight bitterness, floral/lemon scent melds into an unidentifiable flavor, not particularly tropical or pineapple. Light grassiness on the finish and aftertaste. Tastes a little bit more like pineapple as it cools down, but it’s certainly not overwhelming. If you weren’t told it’s pineapple, you probably wouldn’t know. I’m getting more lemon. Maybe it’s just my taste buds today. I love tropical flavors but this is just too weak for me.
Maybe it’s better iced? Hot it’s kind of boring. I think I’d rather drink a plain green than a weakly flavored one. As a green this seems mild instead of grassy, which I do like. Ultimately I think I’d also rather look at this tea than brew/drink it. A beautiful tea should deliver in flavor as well as visual appeal (this is why blooming teas always disappoint me too). The fact that this tea is sold in a clear top canister speaks volumes – the company cares more about appearance than quality. I fell for it. Maybe it was weak because the light got in?
I will try it again iced one of these to see if it improves. If it doesn’t, maybe I’ll dump it in a bowl as potpourri…
