Key Lime Coconut

I am still not finding any coconut in this tea and I think it could use it as the combination of lime peel and black tea can get bitter. Luckily Herbal Infusions samples are large enough that I have a couple more cups to try and get it right before I officially write this off.

Another Sipdown!

I tried this twice, and just never cared for it. The lime smelled great but didn’t carry into the flavour enough. And the base was odd – Kept getting that weird salty flavor I’ve found in a few teas now…

Heyo! The scent of lime when I cut open the package nearly knocked me over.

Now that’s it’s cooled enough to drink, it’s still got that natural goodness. The lime is quite a bit more toned down now that it’s steeped and the Ceylon base really comes through. I’m really enjoying this one, though I’m not getting much coconut flavour at all.

Afternoon tea with R today.

Dry this smells exactly like that bottled Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime juice one can get at the store, plus it’s making me have a visceral memory of something from childhood but I cannot for the life of me place it. A candy or powdered drink, maybe. Strong and specific.

Steeped, the smell is still there but mutates slightly, and unfortunately brings with it that pool chlorine/cleaner aspect that is hard to avoid (there was some early 52teas intro last year for me that did the same, forget what exactly). But if you kind of avoid thinking about the chlorine/cleaner thing, it does definitely evoke chemical-y key lime pie. I don’t know what to say here exactly—it’s kind of both offputting and good, tilting back and forth each sip. I even get the oily graham cracker crust in the back. Smoothed out some with the clearance Harney goat caramels that came in the mail today, so apparently adding something genuinely creamy-tangy-sweet-rich helps (makes sense).

I wandered into Herbal Infusions last night during Nuit Blanche, and they kindly provided me with a couple samples. This one was first to be tried as I was trying to wake up this “morning”. I drew a bath and settled in for a soak with a cup of this.

This is really nice, and a good choice for waking up with after a long night. It’s both refreshing, with the bold flavours, and calming, with the smooth black base. The lime is very potent-smelling in the dry leaf, reminding me of a lime popsicle. Once infused it’s a little more subdued (not much!), and more natural-tasting than I expected from the scent, thanks to the lime peel I imagine. The coconut of course takes a back seat here but it does chime in, lending a sweet creaminess. I can’t help but compare this to DAVIDsTEA’s Cocomama Lime, which I had high hopes for but was disappointed by, so I’m happy that the coconut holds up in the flavour of this one. I think it compares very favourably.

This also did well in a second infusion (I got out of the bath to resteep my tea; is this going too far?), which I tend not to try with my black teas. It was less tart and more sweet and I may have actually preferred the second steep. Final observation: this tea is begging to be made into an alcoholic beverage. Margarita, perhaps?

The black base is really nice and strong in this one. I get hints of lime, I wonder if a bit of sugar would tease them out a little more. The coconut does really take back seat to the other flavours. I found that this one brewed strong and fast, you need to really keep an eye on it or the black will get a little bitter. I liked this tea, I just wish I could tease out a tiny bit more fruit flavour. Next time, I will be trying it with a bit of sugar. However, with the intensity of the base tea I think this will be one to brew at home because I don’t think it will hold up well steeping all day in my traveller.

I like that these teas are not as sweet, they are more tart and true to flavour. I thought this one was good, but maybe had a bit too much… lime? I’m not sure. I wasn’t sure when I was drinking it, but I wish it had a bit more coconut. This one could easily taste even more like a tropical beverage, waiting to transport you to the beach. That being said, this tea was still fantastic, and would probably be even better iced, which I’m excited to try.

Sipdown! (89/395)

MissB sent me this a long time ago and it lingered around way longer than I thought it would. From the name I fully expected to love this tea, but each time I drank it I was disappointed. Over the last couple of days I finished this off I drank it a few times, using different parameters each time and couldn’t settle on one which made the flavours pop like I wanted. The base tea is not the greatest – it’s not the worst, either, but it’s fairly astringent and needs milk, even brewed at lower temperatures and for less time than a lot of blacks can stand. It’s also pretty flat, and I like a base tea with nuances, or at least one good solid note which I can hold on to and this didn’t have that for me. The lime flavour, especially when shorter brewed, actually is present and pretty nice. It has a sharpness but also a jammy quality and is brought out with a little sugar, but the coconut is nowhere to be found (and I love me some coconut, so this kinda disappointed me a lot). What’s more, the absolute killer for me is that the astringency means I can’t drink this without milk, and when milk is added the lime flavour is almost completely drowned out, and it doesn’t even help add more coconuttiness so unless you like your tea bitter there is zero point in even having this. I really like the idea of this tea, but the execution is poor. Ah well, on to better teas.

This smells really good, but something about the flavouring is coating my tongue and making me not want to finish the glass.

I prepared as an iced tea, making 500ml extra-strong and pouring over ice. I didn’t add any sweetener, but I think it might need it to bring the lime flavour forward. The base is quite strong, and the coconut lends a creamy texture.

Not bad, but not super great. I’d consider getting more because of the uniqueness of the flavour, if only HI had better customer response. (Maybe responding to customer emails, and also sending out a shipping notification…)

Sample sipdown!

Received this one from MissB.

It was nice to try! When I was drinking it I kept thinking that it tasted like key lime flavoured tea. Which is exactly what it is.

But I mean that it didn’t scream “THIS IS KEY LIME!!” to me, it screamed “THIS IS FLAVOURED WITH SOMETHING THAT’S SUPPOSED TO TASTE LIKE KEY LIME!”

It was decent, but not something I would need to own. I’m actually not a huge proponent of anything lime flavoured, except desserts. Same rule applies to lemon things, usually. I need a major creamy note in there.

This had a mild creamy note. The coconut helped. Nice to try!

Thanks MissB :)