Gooseberry Black Tea

Thank you Indigobloom This one comes across as that random “berry” flavour that some teas have, though it’s leaning towards almost being gooseberry. There’s a bitterness at the back end of this that reminds me of rind. I’m trying this cold brewed as well over the weekend since I’m thinking that might be the way to do this one. Not a bad tea, but i think i prefer S&V’s baked good teas :)

Nooooo!! Steepster ate my note. Grrr!!!

OK now that I am done venting…
This tea is different, I’ll give it that! and definitely reminiscent of what I recall gooseberries tasting like. A little like marmalade, or maybe green grape jelly. I’m also getting a slight bubblegum note.
Overall, I’m unsure if I like it. I certainly don’t hate it though!
Methinks I just need to find the sweet spot.
Kittennas point about this being perfumey is spot on, though less so as the cup cooled. Perhaps I should make some iced when the weather warms up. just for a change!

Thanks Indigobloom for letting me thief a bit of this before I hand it off to you!

So from the description, I’m expecting pretty much a black currant-flavoured tea. Which have been rather hit or miss for me – Jane Austen Mafia from Adagio was quite good, although it also has a creaminess, but I dislike 52teas’ blends containing black currant.

The flavour of the cup is more on the side of the 52teas’ flavouring, somewhat candy-like but less artificial. Definitely kind of perfumey, which I don’t think gooseberries actually are. (Funny observation: I think last time I ate gooseberries, they were rather tart, so my mouth is currently watering like crazy in anticipation of eating tart fruits, even though I know the tea will be nothing like that! I should note that this also is more of a ‘dilute-the-tartness’ thing, than an ‘om-nom-nom’ thing. Silly salivary glands!)

The flavour of the cup is milder than I anticipated. Not very fruity at all. The “gooseberry/black currant” flavour is there, as is the perfuminess, but they’re quite mild. This is definitely not an in-your-face flavoured tea!

Certainly not my cup of tea, but I imagine it may be for those who like this sort of fruitiness!

Sipdown! (7 | 43)

I ordered this one because it sounded interesting, though I don’t have much experience with gooseberries in general.

But it ends up just tasting like that generic chalky berry flavoring that makes me think of mixed berry Tums. Almost like an artificial and cloyingly sweet version of blackcurrant with a dusting of chalk.

Needless to say, not a favorite for me.

This tea I would categorize as not bad simply because there is simply too much sweetness to it. The gooseberry flavor, which like the other reviewers I can’t pin down as gooseberry, is too strong. There is a little bitterness to this tea, but not much. There is no noticeable astringency or malt flavor.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot for three minutes with boiling water. I used 3 tsp of leaf. If you like really, really sweet flavor teas you may like this.