Huckleberry Tea

Second tea of the morning…. (SRP #19)

I picked up a few individual bags of this with my Market Spice order a while ago. I think I was anticipating a future order from there since their signature tea held quite a bit of promise for me, so this was a way to sample this tea without ordering the 4 oz minimum. I know I would shop at Market Spice if it was someplace close that I could visit, but the amount of the shipping with the fact that I was not truly taken with the teas I ordered means it was probably my last order with them. Their service is great, though. I did have an order mistake that was promptly corrected, and they do respond to email very quickly. It may be a great place for others to order, but I need a little more than great service to keep me coming back and, like I mentioned before, the tea I ordered just did not wow me.

This tea is a great one for the fruity and sweet tea lovers out there. I honestly get Welch’s Grape Soda from this. How fun this would be for kids! I still taste tea, but the grape-ish flavor is pretty strong. I am certain if I had encountered this tea in the beginning of my tea journey, it would have been a favorite. The tea base is smooth with not a hint of bitterness, and it is tasty. I do have to give them props for this. What a fun tea!

Bag in a mug method….yep, just 8 oz. boiling water for 4 minutes. Lightly sweetened.

Taking the day off today after a fabulous weekend, filled with family visits and a Steampunk-themed wedding, which also was sort of a college friend reunion for me. Totally had a blast!! So much fun!! Glad I took today off though, because our flight was delayed 2 1/2 hours last night, so we didn’t get back until 2 am!

So, we went to Pike Place Market in Seattle yesterday, and I discovered this shop! I had seen it on Yelp! because, prior to our trip I was curiously searching for tea shops up there, and I totally ran into it without even knowing it was at Pike Place! Score! I was overwhelmed by their wall of tea canisters, but I found some 10-bag sampler packs, which I promptly picked up. I only got two, but now I’m considering an online order. Their tea is really inexpensive, surprisingly.

So, this huckleberry tea is pretty good. I couldn’t help myself and opened the sealed foil package to smell it while we were stuck at the airport. Totally huckleberry! Reminded me of the huckleberry taffy my friend sent me a long time ago. I brewed some up this morning. The teabags were oddly moist, but the tea tastes great! This one has a lot of huckleberry flavor….pretty much straight-up huckleberry. I would have maybe liked a little more tea flavor, but I still enjoyed it, a lot. I think it might be fabulous iced! Definitely a taste of the northwest, and a great end to a wonderful weekend! :)

I tried the decaf tea bag version, and was a bit unsure as to what to expect, since I’d never even heard of huckleberry tea before (nor have ever tried anything huckleberry-flavored). I thoroughly enjoyed this, though, It’s milder and rounder that the Market Spice Signature Blend, and the aroma is also sweeter and something I would be able to drink more often than the deliciously pungent Market Spice Signature Blend. It smelled delicious!

I received a box of this tea as a gift. I don’t usually buy bagged teas, but I never look a gift leaf in the mouth. (Or whatever the tea equivalent of that saying would be.) Upon opening the inner lining, the first thing I noticed was that the bags were very slightly moist. I was surprised because the seal was airtight. The room immediately filled with an aroma similar to a cross between blackberries and blueberries.

The richness of the fruit flavoring carried through to the brewed tea. It was naturally sweet, but the black tea balanced this well so it wasn’t cloying. If you like “fruity” teas and don’t mind using a tea bag, this is a winner.

Sipdown of an older sample teabag I picked up in Seattle last winter.

While the flavour profile is quite basic, I was impressed that this one teabag stood up to two cold steepings and produced two batches of delicious coldbrew. I’ve not actually had huckleberries, but this tastes like blueberries with a little bit of saskatoon berry thrown in. Bright, fruity, sweet pastry, and very flavourful. Blueberry pie in a cup. Plus, the base wasn’t bitter or overly tannic.

This was… dry and a bit tannic, medicinal. Generally I tend to like Marketspice so I was excited to try something new from them (I almost took this one from the Holidays TTB without tasting it) but it ended up really messing with my stomach :(

It definitely tasted like berries, but an unfamiliar berry, so I’m going to guess that’s the huckleberry flavor.

Made this with the intent of three warm sips, then ice it down at work…and suddenly I find there is very little left to ice. (Ever do that? Just look down and your cup is mysteriously empty?) Unsweetened, it has a little bit of a bitter edge to the sip—not sure if that’s sloppy steeping or if it’s a natural trait of huckleberries. You sweet people might like a bit of sugar or syrup in this, but otherwise, it’s a natural for summer sipping. Chilled, if you can let it alone that long.

I’m actually impressed that they got the taste of huckleberries in this tea. Not only that but they used huckleberries in the ingredients. I always find it strange when a tea company calls a tea something and then doesn’t bother to even use the name in the tea. At least in these cases with fruits and berries. That being said it’s not my cup o tea. It’s good but just not one I would run to every day.

Small Big Traveling Tea Box

This tea smells simply divine and after seeing all the ripe huckleberries on the trail on Sunday, I had to try this one. The smell of this tea is much stronger than the flavor, but the flavor is still gorgeously huckleberry! Yum. Market Spice did a great job capturing the wildlife essence of Seattle in this tea. mmm.
To me, this tea tasted way better sans sweetener (I usually add sweetener about halfway through so I know what it tastes like with and without sweetener). And if I were to have another cup of this tea, I would leave out that sweetener:]

I got this box of teabags on my vacation to the Seattle, Washington area. MarketSpice store originated in Seattle’s Pike Place Market and since 1911, Huckleberry Tea has been a part of the collection.
It contains no sugar; but has black tea, natural and artificial flavors.
When you open this package of tea bags,,,,,it is very berrylicious scented!!! It smells like a purple grape juice, blackberry, and blueberry combo. Must be what a huckleberry smells and tastes like. Would love to have had a huckleberry to know for sure.
I brewed 8 ounces in a Pyrex measuring cup with just boiling water and 1 tea bag. Steeped for 3 minutes.
The liquor is dark purple-brown and has the scent of grapes and berries.
The flavor is mostly in the nose. It has lots of scent of purple grape juice and berries but the flavor on the tongue is a bit less sweet and has a touch of wild bitter grass flavor to it.
I will have to play with this one, it might need less of a steep time to bring out some sweetness. It definitely has a sweet scent.
Nonetheless, very fun and unique tea bag that I will always remember from my visits to Seattle’s Pike Place Market!!!!