Black Cherry Berry

May Flowers! This is another bagged tea revisit; I only had one bag left of this in my cupboard and it’s rather old, so I figured it was time to sip it down. This is a hibiscus/rosehips blend with black cherry flavoring, and while I usually make teas like this iced, since I only had a single teabag of this left, I opted to just make a warm cuppa.

Though taking hibiscus warm isn’t my favorite (I prefer it chilled), that is actually my favorite part of this tea; the slightly tangy, fruity flavor of the hibiscus is very pleasant. It’s the black cherry flavor that I don’t care for so much. It’s very strong, sweet, and tastes very artificial; somehow I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m drinking liquified cherry Life Savers, and if it weren’t for the overbearing sweetness, the black cherry flavor itself reminds me far too much of cough syrup. The tea doesn’t have that medicinal edge or bite too it, but the strength of the flavor is on par with liquid medications and somehow brings my mind to those associations; I think that is why I would prefer a little softer touch.

This was a perfectly drinkable cup, but this isn’t a tea I’d care to restock.

It smells like cherry cough syrup, and it tastes a tiny bit like it as well, including that odd sensation of having your mouth coated, even after the cup is gone.
Hmm. Not going to be a repeater, but maybe cough syrup tea is perfect for kicking this tiny sore throat?
One can hope.

As a hot tea, this was too sour. Definitely heavy on the black cherry. Would be interesting iced.

Drunk warm, this is full of black cherry. Berry goodness bursting out. Iced, it is refreshingly mild. So depending on which taste you are looking for, choose your temperature!

Brewed up double strength, then iced.

I like a slice of apple berry pie, but I never get one. So I might
Pull this one out when there is apple pie.

This is no where near as overpowering as Cherry Koolaid. I have a bunch of KA single serves and really you can add them to anything. I did Cherry Matcha for example. The colour is really red and there is that black cherry finish to it (warm).

I picked this one up in a multipack. The care they took with the packaging was just amazing, and would definitely encourage me to buy from them again. A box, and five
Seperately sealed packages of flavoured tea!

Pleasant fruity flavor but it is a bit more tart than I like.

I stopped by the grocery store and celestial seasonings teas were on sale. I figured since I was getting into the “loose leaf tea snob” territory, it might be good to come back to some old favorites so I picked up the fruit tea sampler.

I think this might be my favorite cherry tea (second to Capital Tea’s Cherry Tisane) and I’m not sure if it’s because it’s actually good, cherry teas tend to taste awful, or because I associate Celestial Seasonings with my childhood. It’s definitely tart, but the cherry and hibiscus flavors are strong and blend so smoothly.

Another winner from Celestial Seasonings!

I cold brewed this one- filled my 2L pitcher with cool water, stuck the 4 teabags that came in my sampler pack inside, and let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours. After the two hours it was just perfect. Only the faintest taste of tartness (anyone who complains about the tart hibiscus taste needs to start cold brewing (an amazing discovery I just made!)) and the natural black cherry flavour is on point. It tastes like a black cherry yogurt my parents always bought when I lived with them. Delicious, and refreshing. Just like the blueberry tea from them, I absolutely recommend this, even to people who hate hibiscus. Try cold brewing- it’s awesome :)

P.S. – bonus points for this tea being cheap (about $1 per pitcher to make instead of $3-5 with loose leaf), because it’s not loose leaf there is no filter to clean, and no artificial flavourings!

This smells like cherry Kool-Aid during the steep, but there is also something else that reminds me of the Teeccino herbal blends. Maybe it’s the roast chicory? I’m not sure, but the aroma also brings to mind chocolate and is reminiscent of a cherry-flavored Tootsie Pop. I really love the way this smells.

The color of the liquid is a dark burgundy red. It’s tart and a bit astringent but I think it’s probably meant to be since it’s cherry-flavored. I’m not sure I like the taste as much as I like the smell though, unfortunately.

I honestly did not like this at all. It tasted so much like medicine that i just had to dump it half way through. It sure isn’t my taste.

I’ve never really liked cherry flavoured products as they tend to remind me of cough syrup. This one does still have that cherry flavour i don’t like; putting that aside the tea itself is fairly average tasting herbal tea. This was a freebie so not too upset about not liking it too much. I think I’ll use up the rest in a tea cocktail; the cherry will probably taste better cold.