Since I was visiting Robyn at the University again today (I just got home now, so I was there on campus for around six or seven hours?) I decided I needed to bring some tea with me, so I made two cups of this hot, poured them into my water bottle and tossed in the freezer for around half an hour or so while I was getting ready, so it was nice and cool by the time I left.
While I was at the university, I brought her the rest of the match that Lala gave me (the black cherry flavoured matcha) since she seemed super interested in the unflavoured MATCHAccino I gave her yesterday. I didn’t really like either of the matchas too much, so I think she’ll get a better use out of it. I need to remember to bring her book back next time – this is the second day in a row I’ve forgotten it here at the apartment!
I’ve made Goji Pop as a hot tea a few times, and I was sure I was doing something wrong because both of the times I made it it tasted sweet and melony (if a little watered down), but it was clear! No colour AT ALL. I’ve seen pictures of this tea brewed and it’s usually very red or at least pink, and it’s even described as a pink tea. I was really confused at to what I was doing wrong – I was certain I wasn’t under leafing.
Well, today before I made my tea I made sure to shake the tea extra well and I think the problem I must have had making it was that I wasn’t getting bits of each ingredient in the mix, because both cups I steeped (I didn’t resteep, just made two separate cups – I didn’t want this to taste more watered down than I’m used to it being) were BRIGHT red. Finally, Goji Pop that looks like Goji Pop!
I stole a few sips of each cup while it was hot. The first cup didn’t really have any melon pieces in it, and it mostly tasted like tart and sour hibiscus and cranberry/orange flavour (sort of what goji berries taste like to me). I’m sure what I was missing in the previous cups I had hot must have been hibiscus and the goji berries (or I at least had a lot less of them) because there are the things I can picture giving the tea the bright red colour it’s supposed to have. The cups I’ve had in the past have been much lighter in taste and also very melon flavoured.
The second cup I had I made sure to include a couple pieces of the sugared (or whatever it is) melon. This one was also bright red, but when I tasted it it taste sweet and sour with a VERY strong melon flavour. I’m pretty sure this is a lot closer to the flavour this tea is supposed to have.
Mixed together and chilled, this tea smells very much like melon with a more subtle and muted hibiscus/goji berry smell. Actually, it smells quite enticing and really, really fruity. The taste is pretty strongly melon, even after being mixed in with the cup that didn’t have melon in it. I really like the melon taste, and it pairs well with the hibiscus and goji berries. As an iced tea, this is definitely less tart, which is good. I don’t mind the sourness of hibiscus but sort of dislike really tart teas.
I’m glad I held off on logging this one until after I’d tried it iced and had an more successful brewing attempt (something that wasn’t totally clear). I prefer this as an iced tea over a hot tea, definitely. I can’t stress enough how important it is to get a bit of each ingredient in your cup – I think it really affects the flavour of the tea when something is missing (especially when the hibiscus, melon or goji berries are missing).
I’m not gonna rate this one as high as I want to, since it’s a bit more (I don’t know if this is the word I want, but…) temperamental than other herbals I have – you need to pay attention to what you’re measuring out to make sure things are included and can’t just blindly dump a couple teaspoons into your steeper. It’s still a really good tea though, and a really unique flavour. Maybe if I have more success brewing it in the future I’ll rate it higher up.
And on a somewhat unrelated note, I fed my roommate one of the goji berries and he spit it out onto the floor. Guess he’s not a fan.
