Sampler Sipdown September! Here are a couple of easy sipdowns. I had some herbal samplers I got as freebies with a past order from Capital Teas and they are tiny, honestly being herbals, which are larger, chunkier ingredients, I’m uncertain if these will make for even a cuppa properly, but there certainly isn’t enough for more than that. Due to the size I limited the brew to a single cup (235ml) rather than trying to top off my coffee mug to 350-370ml like I usually do.
So the first is Lemon Drop. There is no info on the tiny sampler packets other than a name, a brew length, and a temperature, so I had to do the leg work myself. This is described as a honeydew melon fruit blend… I admittedly have never had a melon tea warm, only iced (I do quite like them iced). Curious how this will bode to me as a warm tea…
It steeps up a peachy-pink (no doubt from the hibi, but since it isn’t a dark red, it must be scarcer on the hibi than most fruit blends), and it smells less like melon and more like… a lemon-lime pop to me. It just has a strongly citrusy aroma, but somewhat sweet, as well. After taking a sip… this tea tastes surprisingly like Squirt to me, which isn’t really a compliment, since I’ve always thought of that pop as “shitty Sprite.” I’m getting this sort of grapefruit tasting note in the tea, not melon, and a very heavy lemon citrus note. The lemon is at least quite nice, without that really fake/artificial flavor that reminds me of cleaner, and the slight sweetness of the tea balances the tart/tangy notes nicely. I just find that grapefruit flavor (and I’m not sure where it is coming from?) a bit off-putting, because I personally am not a fan of grapefruit. If that weren’t present, this would actually be a pretty decent lemon tea.
Flavors: Citrus, Grapefruit, Lemon, Sweet, Tart