Cranberry Herbal Tea

To be fair, these have been lost at the back of my cupboard for a year and a half, largely because I can never remember if it’s the PC cranberry that’s terrible or the pomegranate. I have both.

Steeping this up today I get a vivid red liquor and a smell strongly reminiscent of hibiscus…Which I just noted is of course the first ingredient. That implies to me that the cranberry is the one I always thought was bad. There’s a tinge of a cinnamon smell in there as well, and something that (excuse me) reminds me of vomit. I’m trying to ignore that note…

First sips come in much milder and sweeter than I would expect. I’m not getting the hibiscus right off, but instead a sweet fruit smell (wouldn’t call it cranberry). As I sit with this mug the flavours will change, I know, since hibiscus seems to take the lead as tea cools, but this is a good start.

A few sips in I am finding it a bit more tart. As the beau suggested, I think a tiny drop of honey would work to sooth the hibiscus and possibly enhance the “cranberry” flavour. Of course cranberry is tart on it’s own, so I don’t know why they added hibiscus. Cranberry must just not come out strong?

Anyway, it’s drinkable. Very plain and doesn’t stand out, but I remember serving it to friends who’d never had loose leaf and they liked it. Strange to remember the days of picking up all the weird teas PC had for sale and thinking I was really getting a different tea experience. Thank God for loose leaf!

I was expecting this tea to taste like cranberry juice, but it doesn’t. It’s very tart and there are spices added to the cranberry flavour. I don’t enjoy it. Someone mentioned here that it has a vomit aftertaste and when I try to drink it I can’t help but notice it. It’s a little better iced with agave but I won’t repurchase it for sure.

Yet another “organize the boxes to systematically drink my way through them” find in the back of the pantry. How long has this one been around? No idea. Less time than my Sugar Plum Spice, that’s for sure. But it’s still been more than a few years.

Every time I have a cup of this one, I get an overwhelming smell of liquorice when I first open the box. I don’t really get any flavour of it, but the smell is definitely there. If you don’t like black liquorice, you will not like this tea.

As for actual CRANBERRY. I’m not so sure. I’ve had other cranberry teas that are yummy and cranberry-y and tart (because, let’s face it, you don’t need to add hibiscus to make a cranberry tart!). This isn’t one of them. If I get a cranberry tea, I want SOUR to be the first thing I think. Not “gee, this is mystery-fruity”. You want a sweeter cranberry? That’s what sugar and/or honey and/or agave is for (or whatever other sweetener is your sweetener of choice). As soon as I see hibiscus in a cranberry tea I’m instantly suspicious. Tea companies need to start using beet juice more often to turn teas pink if all they want is colour.

ANYWAY. The overall experience of this tea isn’t unpleasant to me, it’s just a) not what I expected, and b) doesn’t blow me away. I can do better.

Verdict: will not purchase again.