So I bought this from Mcquarrie’s about a week or so ago? I went in with the intention of finding something that I could cold brew to make a nice, fruity drink. Somehow I settled on this even though it didn’t particularly scream “cold brew me!”. I think, mostly, I wanted to see if I could find a fog tea better than the Spiced Fig at DAVIDsTEA (the only other fig tea I’ve tried) that was so disappointing and neither smell nor tasted like fig. This one had a very strong smell of fig (very, VERY strong) so I thought it was worth a try.
I did end up cold brewing it though – for Christmas (well, my early Christmas) because I thought it might be neat having a fig drink around (I associate figs as Christmas fruit, for some reason). I set up 2 and a half tablespoons of leaf in about 5 cups of water which cold brewed in my fridge for around 12 hours. I didn’t end up drinking any of it on Christmas though because there was just so much around to eat and drink.
So I’m having it now at work, the day after. The strained colour is a very nice sunset kind of pink and smells strongly of fig and peaches? McQuarrie’s doesn’t post ingredient lists (they have an ingredient booklets in store, but I didn’t check it) so I’m not one hundred percent sure what was in the mix. I remember seeing LARGE chunks of fig, whole rose buds, a little bit of hibiscus, but nothing quite resembling peach.
Taste wise, this is uber refreshing and actually way fruitier than I thought it would be. The first thing I notice is the fig, which I’m super happy about! That was the whole point. There is also a considerable amount of peach type flavour to me but I’m all for that – it pairs quite nicely with the fig and gives this a little more dimension. I’m finding the rose most noticeable in the aftertaste (along with a milder fig flavour), and it’s a nice kind of way to end the sip.
As far as the hibiscus goes (because I know it’s dreaded by many a people) – to ME I’m finding it’s present but not overwhelmingly so. Mostly, I think it’s contributing a sort of sharpness to the peach that cuts through what might otherwise be a sort of overwhelming amount of straight fig and rose.
I have enough leaf left to maybe maybe one hot cup and another pitcher of this cold, but once I’m out I think I’ll strongly consider repurchasing this! It was very nice to have as a cold drink.
