Placed my very first Citizen tea order a little while ago because they were doing a free shipping promo! Now that is how you get my business – free shipping is the fucking BEST because it lets me order whatever I want without feeling guilt. Tons of little baby samples? Can do! Only one tea, but a decent amount of it? Yup! Both of those approaches have some major pros – both in terms of introducing yourself to a company and just in regard to restocking favourites.
In this circumstance, I went for two medium-ish quantities of teas I’d been really curious about for a while with the knowledge that I’d also get three free samples which would help with the whole sampling/introducing myself to this companies offerings thing. This was one of the teas I was specifically interested in though; I’m very into fruity whites and I’ve liked A LOT of the bamboo teas I’ve tried in the past so I was intrigued by the presence of both those things – plus cranberry is a flavour you can enjoy year round but that feels particularly appropriate around winter.
My first tasting of this was as an iced tea, and I have to say I was very impressed by it! It was very soft and light bodied, but with a great crispness and really light, delicate vegetal/grassy notes from the bamboo! Like, that tastes comes through really clearly and it just works very well as an iced tea. It’s like the best parts of white tea and green tea converged into one, with a very clear/defined finish that makes it feel all the more refreshing/hydrating.
What made it better was the cranberry though. It wasn’t a bold or rich flavour, but it was really present in the top of the sip as this really lively burst of both distinct cranberry sweetness and just a fleck or too of tartness, which transitioned really nicely into that bamboo heavy body flavour. I think it’s a really well executed balance that really, really represents all of the things in the blend! Colour me impressed!
Song Pairing: https://youtu.be/BKLVpDTZOPQ
Flavors: Bamboo, Cranberry, Cucumber, Freshly Cut Grass, Straw, Sweet, Tart
