Glad I’m finally getting to try this! All the awesome Steepster reviews (I blame you, VariaTEA) have just made me even more eager to try it out. I can’t believe this is something I’ve passed up in store because I like all the things in it, and dry it just smells rich, and coconutty with such a lovely fruity raspberry quality to it. Mmmm!
So, parameters are 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 10 oz. of boiling water – steeped for five minutes. It brewed up to smell very strongly of coconut, though not really an raspberry to the smell. I’m glad I’ve hidden this in the furthermost regions of the tea storage closet – if it was out in the open I might be worried about Tre using up my sample; one of few kind of tea he independently makes for himself is anything with strong amounts of coconut.
I waited to try this for a little while (was drink A Rabbit’s Garden first), so now that I’ve gotten to the mug it’s significantly cooler – though still kind of warm. I figured I’d do this one second since the fact it’s good iced is actually in the product description – so I felt like that was a better approach than trying A Rabbit’s Garden cold when it could be lousy that way…
So taste wise: Lots of strong and rich coconut initially, in a way that really reminds me of Buttered Rum, minus some of the more pronounced butterscotch candy notes that blend features. Once I got over the tons of coconut I immediately picked up on the sweetness of the raspberry. It’s quite juicy and well pronounced – sticking around for a lengthy amount of time in the aftertaste. It also compliments the coconut really well. The black base is nice here as well, and I can’t help but feel that maybe there are some floral notes here? I’m sorta picking up on something like that.
It’s really good, though! I’m not sure yet if I’d want more, because it does really remind me of Buttered Rum and I have a ton of that right now, but it’ll be well loved while it is in my cupboard.
