Berry Black™ - Raspberry Darjeeling Black Tea

Not a bad tea, got from a Chaplain’s care package here in Afghanistan.

A little bit of sweetener makes it a pleasantly fruity taste.

If you are on the go, it’s worth it— if not, try Anjou Pear-adaise from Teavana instead!

This is an ancient teabag. Maybe the last from my box of Numi samples. I think I was avoiding this one because it sounded great, was a great idea for a blend (Darjeeling, berries) but I knew it would be terrible….hibiscus. I’m glad I didn’t drink this one when I got the Numi sampler and I was oversteeping most of my teas. It would have been much worse. Sadly, the only thing I can taste here is the hibiscus. The mug gets very red very fast. I can’t really taste any berry or Darjeeling. Just sour hibiscus.
Steep #1 // 15-20 minutes after boiling // 2-3 minute steep

I was really looking forward to trying this fruit-laced darjeeling from Numi. Unfortunately, Berry Black is much more about hibiscus and rose hips than darjeeling! In fact, this will sound bitchy, but it seems a bit like a waste of good organic darjeeling. And fruits!

The hibiscus really overwhelms. I should have known as I watched the liquor brew up bright red, but this is much more than I was expecting. I have something like 15 more bags of this blend and will likely brew them up en masse for a gallon of iced tea, which I suspect will be pretty good, but I would not choose to drink this again hot. Cream would not help—in fact it might curdle!

(Blazing New Review #21)

How does this have anything other than hibiscus and rose hips in it? Seriously, black tea, especially Darjeeling? I don’t believe.

So yeah. This was basically hibiscus and rose hips.

Oh, hell no. Tastes like stomach acid. To be fair, I don’t like fruit teas at the best of times (unless it’s iced) but yeah. Ugh. Never again.

Bitter and weird.

Okay! So, I pulled this one out of the sample box and read the ingredients. Hibiscus. Rats. My last experience with Hibiscus in a tea was not a positive one, but as I didn’t have to pay for the tea bag, I gave it a shot. It’s not bad, but I wasn’t all that impressed either. Being a Darjeeling helped it just enough to make it drinkable, but I HAD to add milk. Even then, the Hibiscus insisted upon being the main attraction, and made every effort to overpower the Darjeeling with its icky over-sweetness. I suppose if I was somewhere craving tea and this was all there was to choose from, I’d be a big girl and deal, but I won’t be seeking this tea out any time soon. In fact, I think the only reason I’ve rated this one so high is out of respect for the Darjeeling. Sorry Numi. No winner this time.

Great Iced.