Such a random mix of ingredients! For some reason, I had to try it. (Probably based on the description – “The classic Italian ice cream dessert, vanilla notes with a shot of espresso!”) There are coffee beans in here (LOTS), along with things like rosehip, hibiscus, and cranberry. Quite odd.
The fragrance from the bag of tea is absolutely divine – if you like coffee, that is. Heavy coffee aromas, with syrupy sweet caramelly/vanilla notes. It really smells like an iced cappuccino from Tim Horton’s tastes. Since I happen to like (sweetened) coffee, this aroma was quite appealing to me! Brewed up, the aroma is a bit weaker, but remains the same – and it’s still quite powerful. Flavourwise is where it’s a bit odd… because it tastes like an unsweetened, uncreamy iced cappuccino. Which, frankly, is not as good as it sounds, if it even does still sound good. Definite coffee flavours and lovely vanilla, but without sweetness, it’s undrinkable for me, as a person who does not drink straight coffee. It’s not even the bitterness that’s bothering me though (it’s not all that bitter); I can’t put my finger on what’s strange about it (maybe the sour dried fruits?). However – adding milk improved it greatly, and adding some maple syrup made it taste pretty much, to me, like a deliciously fattening iced coffee drink (note: it was cold by the time I got around to doctoring it). So basically, I strongly recommend having this as a latte (or even just with added milk), preferably sweetened. I’m not sure what the purpose of the rosehip/hib/cranberry are…
Note: I just picked up Vanilla Cappuccino from DavidsTea, and this definitely has a similar vibe to it. I’m interested in trying the DT one to see how it compares. I suspect it will be sweeter, at the very least, which isn’t necessarily a good thing.
ETA: Oh yeah, getting some marzipan-y notes too, along the vanilla/caramel.
I have completely same thoughts about this tea. But actually, it is not so bad as I was afraid of.