Honey & Melon

I didn’t enjoy this tea, however I don’t enjoy melons so my person opinion should not sway you from trying this tea. It was presently floral and fruity. There was a sweetness to it, however it was a bit acidic as well.

Cold brew amazingness.

This is not only the best English Tea Shop tea I’ve had (by far), but it’s also the best cantaloupe tea I’ve had, including Lupicia and Butiki. And it’s definitely the best TK Maxx purchase I’ve ever made, ha. This is a seasonal blend which is part of ETS’s Christmas collection for some reason, but next time it comes around I think I might pick up another tin. Every time I drink it I can’t get over the accuracy of the melon. Every. Single. Time. Cold brewed it’s even more accurate, though the liquorice sweetness does come out a little more this way. I used my last 3 teabags for this cold brew, but I’ve replaced the water to see if I can get another batch out of it. This has definitely been one of the biggest surprises to me in my tea discovery journey, and one which will in all probability be a repurchase.

I first tried this one just before Christmas, I think, from the EU TTB. I drank it hot on that occasion, but I made a note to keep some back for cold brewing in the warmer weather.

Today is that day. I made this up last night to bring to work with me today, using one litre of cold water and 3 tea bags. It went into the fridge overnight, so it had about 10 hours in total.

I remember this one fairly well from the first time I tried it, largely because I was so impressed! It’s even better cold (if that’s possible, since I rated it 100 at the time). I mean, it worked hot, but it’s flavouring is obviously suited to cold brewing. No-one I know eats hot melon.

The black base here is apparently ceylon, but from flavour alone I wouldn’t know this was a black tea at all. It tastes just like melon juice. The flavour is so exact, it’s actually hard to believe that this is tea at all. The fact that it’s cold really helps this impression, because it’s just like a slice of cantaloupe melon straight from the fridge. Completely delicious, and very, very refreshing! It’s certainly the best melon tea I’ve tried, bar none.

You need some of this. Trust me.

Thank you Nattie for this tea. This was from the Hapa-tite tea exchange and the wonderful Nattie was my swapping buddy. Melon is one of my most favourite flavours and foods so my eyes literally lit up when I saw this blend. And what better to blend with melon than honey? I think that sounds like a beautiful combination, though the fact that it’s black tea based is making me wish the base isn’t too strong.

In the little note Nattie left me she said she uses two bags because the flavours are so subtle and she likes strong tea. For now I will use one bag but will probably end up trying two as I too am a lover of strong teas. For the most part the bag looks like any other and has the same generic black ceylon scent most of us will know so well, I would never guess it’s flavour if someone handed this to me without saying what it was, though it is a little sweeter than normal ceylon.

No steeping times for this on the website so giving it the good old 3 minute rule with boiling water since it’s black based,

Ok three minutes later and I have a dark brown tea that smells exactly like cantaloupe melon. it is AMAZING!!! I’m actually wondering if I have died and gone to heaven right now. It’s so sweet and juicy and natural, the melon is stronger than the honey but both are very present.

Flavour wise it is a little softer than it’s smell but it’s at a nice level for me, the melon is more of a mist and the honey a sweet after taste, oh how I would love to dance around in melon mist…
It doesn’t linger for long in terms of flavour including the after taste but that makes it more refreshing and much less like a black tea. In fact you can’t taste the ceylon at all.

It’s wonderful, especially for a pre-bagged tea. Thinking this may make an amazing iced tea, will try tomorrow. Thank you so much Nattie for this tea, I am definitely going to have to buy this one.

Ps. It reminds me of Cantaloupe & Cream by Butiki, very similar but not quite as good.