Organic Black Cherry Ceylon

Since my first taste of this some years back, my opinion went from “meh” to “hey, this is pretty good” to a near meltdown when I couldn’t find it at Big Lots any more. Recent jackpot! at a Tuesday Morning store. (Danger, Will Robinson. Hide your wallet when you go in. There is always something that you don’t need that you need there.)

I get bananas about fruit tea this time of year, the more so as the temperature rises—it’s 99 outside and going to be the coolest day of the workweek. So a jug of this cooling in the fridge was just what was needed when I got home, footsore and ears ringing from a day of playing with kids (VBS week at church—my little pod of twelve has the personality of six dozen, coupled with music class choreography that could tangle the feet of a “Dancing With the Stars” contestant. It’s gonna be a ride!)

The best part is the subtle cherry that doesn’t have that artificial cough-syrup whang. Even one bag combined with a couple of plain Red Rose teabags in a mason jar makes its presence pleasantly known.

I wasn’t prepared to enjoy this tea, as it was among the different boxed tea bags at about half the price of others. It’s Ceylon black tea, nothing surprising in its base notes, but it’s the subtleness of the black cherry that drew me in. I’m not a huge fan of sweet or over-done fruit blends, and this one is neither. True black cherry flavor that appears as a secondary note to the Ceylon. I’ve made doubly-strong infusions in travel tumblers for work, and the flavor is still very subtle. I’m not convinced that it’s gourmet or deluxe quality as is written all over the box, but it’s certainly refreshing.

The recommended steeping time for this tea is 1 min (light), 2 min (strong) and 3 min (with milk).
I steeped it for a bit longer than their longest recommended steeping time without any hint of bitterness. I also added a bit of milk. When smelling the tea, the roundedness from the black cherry is present, though there definitely isn’t an overpowering artificial cherry smell. The tea is pleasant; a black tea with subtle cherry notes that makes the tea interesting.
I know that some people aren’t that impressed with this tea because the cherry flavour is so mild. For me, it is a good alternative when I want something a bit different than a plain breakfast black tea.

It’s a nice tea, but I get mostly Ceylon and almost no cherry. I wish I could pick up on the cherry flavor a bit more, because the cherry aroma of the dry leaf, though subtle, smelled natural a d enticing.

I’m using the electric pot at work, so the water is just under boiling. Maybe if I use boiling water, more of the cherry flavor will come through.

Both the tea and cherry are mild and delicate in flavor, similar to a French pastille candy. The flavor of the tea isn’t that interesting when just finished steeping and piping hot, but become more pronounced as the tea cools.

2020 Advent Swap – Day 7

Another fabulous cold brew ice tea from TJ Maxx!

I was happy to see this one since I really loved the strawberry tea from St. Dalfour that I had a couple of days ago. Another one I shared with my husband, he drank his hot while I decided to take Devon Bartholomew’s advice and drink mine cold. It’s very lightly flavored, and though I can tell it’s meant to be fruity, I can’t say I taste cherry. It’s slightly astringent but also refreshing. It tastes like a solid straight black iced tea that I might have in a local restaurant. So even though I don’t taste cherry, I’m still enjoying the flavor of the base tea. I think perhaps the flavor may be different hot since my husband said he could taste fresh cherries in his cup.

Another one from the ggmathis box! Made a thermos of it before braving the crowd at Aldi on Saturday morning in the middle of a pandemic. Steeping time was the equivalent of one straight minute of aggressively dunking the bag up and down into the water until it looked nearly opaque in a tall porcelain vessel. Didn’t get to try it until after I emerged from Aldi with a few bruises from getting hip-checked by shopping carts in the produce aisle, but mmmmm. It’s a very light black base with just the right amount of sweet dark cherry flavor. If I manage to find this anywhere in a store, I’m grabbing a box. Very pleasant for being what appears to be a cheaply produced bagged tea dust. I’m used to those tasting like sorrow and a waste of $2 for the box.

I always come back to this tea. I am black tea for the mornings kind of woman, and I like green teas other times of the day (and spearmint if it’s before bed), but I do always come back to this tea as my #1 favorite. It has just enough of a hint of cherry to make a black tea have flavor and hits the spot just right. It’s hard to over-steep this to the point where it becomes bitter. In my experience, if I am using the hot water from the canteen at work (versus hot water that has been near boiling in the teapot at home), steeping time of about 5 minutes is right for me. My grocery store (Woodman’s) carries this for around $3.69 a box. Not bad for 25 packets of ORGANIC tea. And it’s imported from France. I am also happy with the design of the tea bag (not a fan of the ones without tags).

For me, it basically tasted like any other average black tea. There was no complexity to the taste. I was really hoping for a cherry flavor in there, and though it’s in the aroma, it doesn’t end up being tasted…

I love the tart cherry flavor of this tea! It’s not sweet, and it’s more black tea than cherry, but it works. If you like this, try the St. Dalfour Lemon Tea as well.