Pineapple Mint

There’s definitely more mint flavor here than pineapple. This one needs a shorter steep time than some herbals because I ended up with a bit of an oversteeped mint flavor the first time I had this. The pineapple is pretty strong in the scent, but shows up more as acidity in the flavor. I cold brewed the second steep of this, and it had a lot more flavor to give, mostly mint, but a little fruitiness too. I’m a huge mint fan, but the acidic mint isn’t working super well for me. I wish the fruit flavor were more full and delicious.

Sipdown (650)!

Finished this one off as an iced tea, in my tea press.

I was very curious about this blend; it’s a green tea which isn’t usually my jam but the pineapple mint pairings sounded really intriguing to me. I like the idea of smashing really contrasting flavours together – and sweet, tangy pineapple and cooling mint are a pretty big juxtaposition. I was hoping for some sort of “mojito” like effect though! That’s also basically what I got in practice – though neither pineapple nor mint were especially bold or flavourful. In fact, the overall profile of the tea was somewhat mellow and medium bodied. Still, juicy sweetness at the top of the sip and more of a crispness/cooling effect in the finish. Also some hibby notes, and a bit of an apple quality.

Couldn’t taste the green tea at all – which is a big win. Thanks for the share VariaTEA!

Sipdown (212)

This is a lot of sweet from the honey and then mint underneath. I don’t mind it but this was never a favourite so I am ok saying goodbye.

i love pineapple teas….i’m “over” mint teas….this one lands more on the side of mint than pineapple. i like juicy, delicious pineapple oolong…not this. :( personal preference though vs it being anything related to the tea itself.

This seemed like an odd choice to start the morning with, even to me and I’m drinking it. It was there, though, and it’s a lovely warm spring day, so I decided to throw caution to the wind. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. When I returned, the liquor was a deep pinky-red (hello, hibi!), but the scent was sweet and tropical.

The first sip shows that you shouldn’t judge by appearances, because this one actually tastes exactly as it should. I get pineapple immediately, sweet and true to life, followed quickly by coconut. There’s a slightly odd floral in the midsip, but it’s not too heavy or thick tasting so I’m choosing to ignore it. The mint comes our pretty well in the aftertaste, the sweetness of the spearmint most prominently, but with the deeper, cooler resonance of the peppermint lurking in the background.

I’m more impressed with this one than I expected to be. Pineapple mint seemed like an odd flavour combination to me, but it really does work. The mint isn’t strong, so the sweeter fruit flavours are allowed their time to shine, but it does add a refreshing cleanness that’s actually very welcome after the sweet tropical fruit flavours.

What I really want now is to try this one cold brewed in the summer. A definite repurchase in the warmer months ahead.