This was a surprise blend that VariaTEA added into our swap. It’s also the first one out of the swap teas that I’m trying. Partially that’s because it seemed like it’d be a forgiving blend to steep for work this morning (being fruit/rooibos primarily) since I had a low level of energy/patience for brewing something finnicky. Partially it’s because I have such limited Teavana experience what with there not being a local store or enough blends on their site that I have a deep enough interest in to place an online order (only Teavana blend I’ve tried is Chocolate Banana Foster). And then the last reason I’m trying it first is because just a few days ago I remarked about how whenever I’m craving David’s Blueberry Jam I’m also always craving David’s Tropicalia (and vice versa); I had then posed the question “what if I mixed the two blends together to satisfy both cravings?”. Well… This is SORTA like doing that, at least in the way of mixing pineapple and blueberry (still wondering why I associate Blueberry Jam and Tropicalia with each other, though).
Also, I guess I’m curious about what makes the pineapple “kona” pineapple other than it being grown in that area of Hawaii – but is there really a taste difference? Whenever I hear “Kona” my automatic association is Kona Coffee, which is the only kind of coffee I still drink (and only when I’m visiting my Dad). And, I’ve had some really good white chocolate coated Kona coffee beans. Yum! And also, damn! Now I want a white and milk chocolate kona coffee tea… Whole Kona coffee beans, white chocolate and milk chocolate curls, a full bodied black base; oh that’d be heaven.
Anyway, for prep I mostly followed the instructions that VariaTEA gave me with the exception of the leaf amount. Since I was making this in my Timolino I used 2 tsp. instead of 1 1/2 tsp. The water was still boiling though, and it still steeped for 6 minutes. The smell was, well, interesting to say the least. It was neither pleasant or overwhelmingly unpleasant either. The pineapple and blueberry kind of stunk together and smelled very sour and artificial, and it kind of left my stomach feeling unsettled. There was also the more subtle creamy smell in the background though, and that aspect smelled really good. These two contradicting smells didn’t mesh well at all though. The liquor was a really pretty colour too: kinda red/purple (prettier than Blueberry Jam).
I guess I should note that at the time of drinking this I hadn’t seen the ingredients list (I’m writing now based on notes I made at work). Anyway, first few sips were interesting and quite conflicting. Initial taste was the same kind of rich creamy sort of thing I was getting from the smell of it steeping. Sorta vanilla, sorta creamy chocolate. Honestly, I was most reminded of white chocolate or those Hershey’s Cookies and Cream chocolate bars. I don’t recall seeing anything remotely chocolatey in the dry leaf though. Maybe it’s a placebo thing from thinking about chocolate coated Kona coffee beans.
After that creamy taste though, there’s this rush and really funky, in a negative way, blueberry. It’s like really artificial blueberry candy that’s supposed to be sour but instead just tastes like ass. And this nasty, sour pineapple/blueberry, and if I had to guess, orange flavour combo is lingering in the aftertaste in all the wrong ways. Although, to be fair I’m SUPER picky about nearly anything blueberry. I hate the texture of real blueberries so wont eat them, and I hate 95% of all artificial blueberry stuff and wont eat that either.
Anyway, I choked down the rest of the timolino worth of this because I was at work and I was really thirsty, and I didn’t want to shell out the money to buy a drink. I think it says a lot that I enjoyed drinking the last bottle of cold steeped Goji Pop more than I liked drinking this. I don’t think I’m gonna be in a rush to drink the last cup worth of the sample of this(sorry VariaTEA). It’ll get drunk eventually though or passed on to Robyn where it’ll likely be much more appreciated. Also, I’m glad to at least have partially answered my question about what Blueberry Jam and Tropicalia would taste like together: probably not good.
EDIT:
Just looked at the ingredients (and there are a lot of them). Hmm, I guess it could be a lot of things contributing to my opinion of this tea. Firstly, this was a green rooibos blend (my first, other than Birthday Cake which is mixed) so maybe it’s something to do with that?
Looks like I was right about there being some orange stuff going on (orange blossoms, in this case). I’ve had other things with both blueberry and orange and I personally don’t think they’re flavours that work too well together. Mallow blossoms makes sense too: I can see how I was tasting that. I actually really like mallow blossoms in most things.
Oh! Oh… Raisins! ICK YUCK NO THANKS. I can’t stand raisons. Now I can see why this is something I had never considered to buy for myself: I go out of my way to avoid blends (or food in general) containing raisins. Also, still no idea what my mystery creamy white chocolate flavour was.
